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COPYRIGHT QEPOSiT. 



Perplexing Passages 



IN THE 

FOUR 



GOSPELS 



Comment from Many 

Commentators Covering all 

Difficult Statements 



Published by 

BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 

536-558 So. Hope Street 

Los Angeles 



Perplexing Passages 



IN THE 



FOUR 

GOSPELS 









Comment from Many 

Commentators Covering all 

Difficult Statements 



Published by 

BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 

536-558 So. Hope Street 

Los Angeles 






Compiled, Copyrighted by 
KEITH L. BROOKS 



©CI.A661206 



Ai K -7 



-wi 



FOREWORD 



It was not the original intention of the compiler that this 
work should be published. The material was gathered over a 
period of ten years, for aid in private study. Search was made 
through many commentaries for the simplest and clearest ex- 
planations of difficult passages in the four Gospels, and the 
compilation has saved the writer many a delay when the ex- 
planation of a perplexing point was immediately needed. 

The work was one day shown to Dr. T. C. Horton, Superin- 
tendent of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and Dr. Horton 
suggested that just such a work was needed by thousands of 
Bible students who do not have access to so many reference 
books, and urged that the work be put in print. 

In compiling the work, the writer has found that commen- 
tators have a noticeable habit of avoiding difficult passages. No 
one writer attempts to explain very many difficulties, but in 
bringing together the wisdom of scores of writers, we are able 
to get light from many angles and to profit by the wisdom that 
the Holy Spirit has evidently imparted to many Bible students 
through prayerful study. Of course, we have entirely avoided 
the writings of those who do not accept the divine authority of 
the entire Bible, and we have made no use of critical explana- 
tions. We have endeavored to select the explanations that 
seemed most simple and natural, and in cases where more than 
one explanation might reasonably be admitted, we have quoted 
the various views. 

As the work goes forth, we pray that it may prove the help 
to many others that it has been to the compiler, serving also to 
impress them with the fact that "all Scripture (and especially 
the four Gospels) is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction and for instruction in righteousness, that the man 
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works." 

KEITH L. BROOKS. 



Perplexing Passages 



m 



The Four Gospels 



Mt. 1:18 — "before they came together." 

Among the Jews the betrothal took place a year before 
marriage, and during the interval the betrothed maiden 
remained with her own family. But from the day of 
betrothal, the pair were regarded as man and wife. — 
Camb. Bible. Before Joseph and Mary had lived to- 
gether she was found to be with child. — B. 

Mt. 1:25 — "knew her not until." 

A Hebrew idiom referring to cohabitation. Note the 
imperfect tense in the original — lit. "was not knowing/' 
Matt. 12:46-50; 13:55, 56 clearly show that she had sons 
afterward. — Companion Bible. 

Mt. 2:2— "his star." 

Historians tell us the ancients were star gazers and 
that they attributed to the mysterious arrangements of the 
stars a divine and prophetic virtue. Certainly God did 
not mark on the face of the sky the shepherd, the serpent, 
the virgin, the crown, the cross, the lamb and all these 
significant pictures without a purpose. Faith and skep- 
ticism alike are compelled to accept the designs which 
were early reproduced on charts and which remain un- 
changed. And now we see the wise men looking to the 
stars. They stand suddenly in awe as they see "His star," 



PERPLEXING 



(a miraculous sign from heaven). Would these men have 
understood this astronomic sign unless some definite 
evangelical prophecy had been associated with the stars? 
It seems clear that the main Scripture doctrines were 
known and recorded from earliest generations and that 
the face of the sky is as truly inspired as the Bible and 
corroborates the Bible. May not God have given to 
earliest man an understanding of these astronomical pic- 
tures, which were later recorded in His Word ? The wise 
men at the time of Jesus' birth were studying the warn- 
ings in the skies when they were attracted by the bright 
new star under the guidance of which they set out to find 
the long-expected Messiah. — Seiss. 

Mt. 2:11 — "gold, frankincense and myrrh." 

Visits were seldom paid to sovereigns without a present 
(1 Kgs. 10:2; cf. Ps. 72:10, 11, 15; Isa. 60:3,6). Frank- 
incense was an aromatic used in sacrificial offerings. 
Myrrh was used in perfuming ointments. These, with the 
gold which they presented, seem to show that the offerers 
were persons in affluent circumstances. — J. F. & B. 

Mt. 2:18 — "they are not." 

"Because they were no more." — Weymouth. 

Mt. 3:2 — "kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

The kingdom of the heavens is the form God's king- 
dom takes during this age. It is heralded by the fore- 
runner, John the Baptizer, and proclaimed by Jesus (Mt. 
4:17). Its principles are laid down in Matt. 5-7 and its 
form during the absence of the King is set forth in the 
parables of Matt. 13. It will be fully manifested on the 
earth at the appearing of Jesus Christ in glory with His 
saints. — Pike. The heavenly kingdom, reign of God over 
the hearts and lives of men. — Meyer. The rule of God 
through Christ — present wherever wills bow to Him. It 
is future as to complete realization, in the heaven from 



PASSAGES 7 

whence it comes and to which, like its King, it belongs, 
even while on earth. — Maclaren. (See on Lk. 3:3.) 

Mt. 3:4 — "locusts and wild honey." 

The great well known Eastern locust, a food of the 
poor (Lev. 11:22). Wild honey made by wild bees (1 
Sam. 14:25, 26). This dress and diet would recall the 
stern days of Elijah. — Jamieson. 

Mt. 3:7 — "Pharisees and Sadducees." 

"Pharisees" — meaning "separate." The Pharisees of our 
Lord's day had a letter-strictness which overlaid the law 
with traditional interpretations. They were correct, moral, 
zealous and self-denying, but self-righteous (Lk. 18:9) 
and were destitute of the sense of sin and need (Lk. 7: 
39). They were the foremost persecutors of Jesus Christ 
and the objects of His unsparing denunciation (Mt. 23: 
13-29; Lk. 11:42, 43). The Sadducees were not strictly 
a sect, but rather those among the Jews who denied the 
existence of angels or other spirits, and all miracles, es- 
pecially the resurrection. They were the religious ra- 
tionalists of the time (Mk. 12:18-23; Acts 5:15-17; 23: 
8).— Scofield Bible. 

Mt. 3:9 — "We have Abraham to our father." 

"Do not imagine that you can say to yourselves, 'We 
have Abraham as our forefather/ for I tell you that God 
can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones." 
— Weymouth. 

Mt. 3:10 — "axe is laid unto the root of the trees." 

The axe, as it were, was ready to strike, an expressive 
figure of impending judgment, only to be averted in the 
way next described. — J. F. & B. 



PERPLEXING 



Mt. 3:12 — "whose fan is in his hand." 

"Fan" — winnowing shovel. God fans to get rid of the 
chaff. Satan sifts to get rid of the wheat (Lk. 22 :31). — 
Bullinger. 



Mt. 3:12 — "purge his floor." 

Clear his threshing-floor. — Comp. Bible. 

Mt. 3:15 — "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." 

Jesus was not a sinner but He took the sinner's place 
and was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5 :21). At Jordan — the 
water ; at Calvary — the blood. — Torrey. It was an act 
of righteousness on the part of Him who had become, as 
to the flesh, an Israelite, to take His place with this be- 
lieving remnant. — Scofield. Thus early did the Savior 
identify Himself with the race He came to save. — Farr. 
He would seem to have said, "Thus do I impledge myself 
to the whole righteousness of the law — thus symbolically 
do I enter on and engage to fulfill it all." — J. F. & B. 



Mt. 4:4 — "live by every word that proceedeth 
out of the mouth of God." 

Victory is to be found in a self- renouncing love of 
God which seeks life and strength, not in its own resources 
but in the cleaving of the inner nature to the Word of 
God, and in a humble faith which has more desire to 
cleave to the definite commands of God than to usurp di- 
vine and glorious promises. — Beck. 



Mt. 4:7 — "shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." 

To tempt God is to experiment with Him, to demand 
evidence of His power and of His will to fulfill His 
promises instead of waiting patiently and trusting in 
Him. — Mansel. 



PASSAGES 9 

Mt. 4:24 — "diseases . . . torments . . . 
possessed with devils (demons) those which 
were lunatic." 

The possession of the human soul by spiritual powers 
or beings is distinguished from ordinary diseases here, 
and also by Luke, who, as a physician, is exact in his de- 
scription of the various forms of disease. The distinguish- 
ing feature of such demoniacal possession may be de- 
scribed as the phenomenon of double consciousness. The 
occult spiritual power becomes, as it were, a second self, 
ruling and checking the better self. — Carr. Note that in- 
sanity and demon possession are entirely different and 
were treated differently by Jesus. Demoniacs always re- 
sisted His help and cried out strangely concerning His 
Deity. No sick person acted in this way, and Christ, in 
healing the sick, never commanded spirits to come out. — B. 

Mt. 5:3 — "poor in spirit . . . theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven." 

"The poor in spirit" — vacant of self, conscious of a 
poverty that only the divine indwelling can change into 
wealth. — Fairbairn. From Christ's point of view those 
were most blessed who had most room within them for 
the heavenly wealth He brought. — Glover. A man must 
first be sensible of want before he can hunger and thirst 
after righteousness. Until we are poor in spirit (having 
a true estimate of self) we are incapable of receiving 
grace. — Watson. 

"Theirs is the kingdom of heaven." — The good of this 
present evil age belongs to the self-asserting and self-es- 
teeming, and the good of the coming age belongs to the 
self-renouncing and self-abhoring. The door of the 
heavenly kingdom is open only to those who realize their 
utter moral poverty and humble themselves. — Torrey. 



10 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 5:4 — "Blessed are they that mourn." 

All mourners are not blessed. That would be good 
news indeed to a world so full of miseries. The mourn- 
ers whom Christ pronounces blessed are those who are 
"poor in spirit." The mourning is the mourning which 
follows upon that poverty. The first is the recognition 
of the true estimate of our own characters and failings; 
the other is the feeling that follows upon that recogni- 
tion — the mourning of contrition. — Maclaren. Real re- 
pentance consists in the heart being broken for sin and 
from sin. — Harries. This holy mourning is the seed out 
of which the flower of eternal joy grows. — Basil. 

Mt. 5:5 — "meek inherit the earth." 

Submission to the will of God, a characteristic of 
Jesus Himself, who says, "I am meek and lowly in heart." 
— Carr. Of all men upon earth the meek have the best 
capacity for enjoying its blessings. — Horn. Com. More 
than all other classes they enjoy what God sends them. — 
Glover. This meekness follows upon the "poverty of 
spirit" and the mourning of contrition. It is the conduct 
and disposition towards God and man which follows from 
the inward experience described in the two former beati- 
tudes. In the ultimate state of fellowship with God and 
Christ to which all such have a right to look forward, 
there will be an external universe on which they will ex- 
ercise their activities and from which they will draw as 
yet unimaginable delights (Rom. 8:17). — Maclaren. 

Mt. 5:8 — "pure in heart . . . shall see God." 

By some mysterious law of our nature impurity has a 
more universal effect on the soul than any other vice. 
Spiritual blindness is especially produced by the habit of 
sensual imagination. — Vince. The condition of true spir- 
itual insight is fellowship with God. Those whose hearts 
He has purified, see God in this life spiritually, and in the 



PASSAGES 11 

life to come, they will be with Him. This will be the 
heaven of heavens. — Thomas. 

Mt. 5:9 — "peacemakers . . . called the 
children of God." 

"Peace" is here used in a deeper sense than merely 
healing dissension. "The peace of God" (Phil. 4:7). 
"The peace of Christ" (Col. 3:15). — Carr. It was not 
till Christ made peace "by the blood of His cross" that 
God could manifest Himself as the "God of peace." When 
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the peace-receivers become transformed into peace-dif- 
fusers and, the family likeness being reflected in them, 
they are recognized as children of God. — Jamieson. 

Mt. 5:13 — "If the salt have lost his savour 
wherewith shall it be salted?" 

"If salt has become tasteless, in what way can it regain 
its saltness ?" — Weymouth. The world despises a savour- 
less Christian. — Nicholson. 

Mt. 5:18 — "One jot or one tittle shall in no 
wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." 

"Jot" — the smallest of the Hebrew letters. "Tittle" — one 
of those little strokes by which alone some of the Hebrew 
letters are distinguished from others like them. Not so 
much as the smallest loss of authority or vitality shall 
ever come over the law. It shall be had in undiminished 
and enduring honor from its greatest to its least require- 
ments.— J. F. & B. (See on Lk. 16:17). 

Mt. 5:22 — "Whosoever is angry with his brother 
without a cause ... in danger of the 
judgment." 

"Judgment" — here the council of those in the local syna- 
gogue. — Comp. Bible. 



12 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 5:22 — "whosoever shall say to his brother, 
Raca ... in danger of the council." 

"Raca" — a contemptuous interjection, expressing the 
scorn of a disdainful mind. — Augustine. Said to be from 
a root meaning to "spit." "Council" here is the sanhedrin — 
the supreme council, legislative and administrative, of the 
Jewish people. — Camb. Bible. 

Mt. 5:22 — "whosoever shall say, Thou fool 
in danger of hell fire." 

"Thou fool"— lit. "Thou godless one."— Wendt. "Pro- 
fane person — child of hell." — Whitby. The passage 
signifies that rash anger and reproachful language are 
damning sins; but some are more sinful than others and 
sorer punishment is reserved for them. — Henry. "Hell- 
fire" — lit. "the Gehenna of fire." Gehenna was the valley 
of Hinnom, the place in or near Jerusalem where, ac- 
cording to Jewish tradition, the bodies of criminals were 
burnt. Hence Gehenna became a synonym for hell, the 
place of final punishment. — Dummelow. 

Mt. 5:29 — "If thy right eye offend thee pluck 
it out." 

It is better to be saved under any circumstances and at 
any cost than to be lost. It is better to go into heaven 
limping, halting, creeping, than to go to hell. — Farr. When 
bodily appetites and the spiritual nature come into a col- 
lision, let the body suffer, not the soul. A whole body 
(a body wholly gratified) or a maimed soul — which? — 
Parker. If the eye cause thee to offend by wanton gaz- 
ings upon forbidden objects; if thy hand cause thee to 
offend by wanton dalliances — if it were indeed impossi- 
ble to govern them, if there is no other way to restrain 
them, it were better to be rid of them than to indulge them 
in sin to the ruin of the soul. "Walk in the Spirit that 
ye may not fulfill the lusts of the flesh," and this will 
be as effectual as cutting off a right hand or pulling out 
an eye. — Henry. (See on 18:7-9.) 



PASSAGES ]l 

Mt. 5:34-37 — "Swear not at all." 

To "take God's name in vain" (Ex. 20:7) is to invite 
His witness to that which is false. Jesus here forbids 
thinking lightly of God — and all that which branches 
therefrom — all language inconsistent with a proper recol- 
lection of the wide supremacy of His rule, whether in 
heaven above, earth beneath or in the midst of His church ; 
or with a proper sense of our utter inability to alter or 
modify the most insignificant part of our frames (v. 36). 
Never call upon God as a witness unless in those cases in 
which you have His permission to do so. — Lewis. They 
had brought in a practice of swearing in conversation, 
and so made way for rash idle, customary oaths. Jesus 
recommends such veracity, honesty and sincerity in speech 
(v. 37) that we may be trusted upon our bare word, 
without an oath. The consideration of God should deter 
us from the common use of oaths, for He is not a com- 
mon witness to be called in upon all trivial occasions. — 
Blair. The prohibition against swearing does not deal 
with taking an oath in the law court. During His trial 
by the high priest, our Lord did not resent being put on 
oath. On rare and solemn occasions we may have to bare 
our heads before God and ask Him to corroborate our 
word. But how different is this from the frequent and 
flippant use of extravagances of speech. — Meyer. 

Mt. 5:37 — "Let your communication be Yea, yea." 

Let your word in ordinary intercourse be "Yea, yea" 
and "Nay, nay." Let a simple "Yes" and "No" suffice 
in affirming the truth or untruth of anything. — Brown. 

Mt. 5:39 — "Whosoever shall smite thee on thy 
right cheek, turn to him the other also." 

Our Lord's own meek, yet dignified bearing when smit- 
ten rudely on the cheek (Jno. 18:22, 23) and not literally 
presenting the other is the best comment on these words. 
It is the preparedness after one indignity, not to invite, 



14 PERPLEXING 

but to submit meekly to another without retaliation, which 
this strong language is meant to convey. — J. F. & B. 
Give not the rude man as good as he brings — do not chal- 
lenge him nor enter action against him. If it be necessary 
to the public peace that he be bound to his good behaviour, 
leave that to the magistrate. However, our recompense 
is in Christ's hands, who will reward us with glory for the 
shame we thus patiently endure. If the shame be quietly 
borne for conscience' sake, and in conformity with 
Christ's example, it shall be put upon the score of suffer- 
ing for Christ.- — Henry. 

Mt. 5:41 — "Whosoever shall compel thee to go a 
mile go with him twain." 

On the great lines of road, stations were established 
where horses and riders were kept for the purpose of 
carrying forward royal mails on the principle of relays. 
The carriers were empowered, in cases of emergency, to 
press into their services any available persons or beasts 
of burden. The power of impressment is what is re- 
ferred to in the word which is employed by our Lord. 
It would sometimes be exceedingly annoying to private 
individuals, and petty private tyrants would be apt to put 
in operation the same principle when they had some ex- 
press to forward on their own account. But, says Jesus, 
do more in such circumstances than is asked of thee. Let 
there be no stint in your efforts to help others, even when 
your help is ungraciously asked. — Morrison. 

Mt. 5:42 — "Give to him that asketh." 

Love should go out to all, not merely the friend and 
neighbor. That most bothersome of men, the borrower, 
should not receive the cold shoulder, but a hearty wel- 
come. — Torrey. Remember that these words were ad- 
dressed to Jews whose natural trait was to live to get 
instead of to give. — True. Giving always has regard to 
the law of love which Jesus put first. — Farr. If you have 



PASSAGES 15 

an ability, look upon the request of the poor as giving an 
opportunity for the duty of alms-giving. Also "be easy 
of access" to him that would borrow, for this is sometimes 
as great a piece of charity as giving. — Henry. This 
shows that such counsels as "Owe no man anything" 
(Rom. 13 :8) are not to be pressed too far, else the Scrip- 
ture commendations of the righteous for lending to his 
necessitous brother (Psa. 37:26; 112:5; Lk. 6:38) would 
have no application. — Jamieson. 

Mt. 5:48 — "Be ye therefore perfect." 

The word implies full development, growth into ma- 
turity of godliness, not sinless perfection. In this pas- 
sage the Father's kindness, not His sinlessness, is the 
point in question. — Scofield Bible. The immediate ref- 
erence is to the perfection in love — but it is implied that 
in all things God's character is our standard and nothing 
short of likeness to Him should satisfy us, and to this 
infinite standard of perfection we are finally to attain 
by the grace of God in Christ. — Torrey. The imperfect 
perfection is that which professes to be perfect (1 J no. 1 : 
8).— Horton. 

Mt. 6:3 — "Let not thy left hand know." 

Secret and noiseless giving metaphorically expressed. — 
Chrysostom. 

Mt. 6:12 — "Forgive us ... as we forgive." 

Even the one who can call God "Father" is continually 
piling up debts that have to be forgiven. — B. We cannot 
enjoy the peace of God until we are reconciled to our fel- 
low men. In the early Christian church it was customary 
for the members of a family to ask each other's forgive- 
ness before going to the Lord's table. We should carry 
this spirit with us every day and extend it to all men. No 
man can be at peace with himself or with God who cher- 



16 PERPLEXING 

ishes any grudge or ill-will against his neighbor. — Mac- 
Naughton. This does not say our forgiving others is 
either the cause or measure of God's forgiving us. It 
teaches that God is concerned in our moral states because 
He wants all His dealings to be a moral blessing to us. 
If we are in an unforgiving state of mind, then His for- 
giveness cannot reach us. The fact of sin disturbs our 
relations with God. — Weekly Pulpit. 

Mt. 6:13 — "Lead us not into temptation." 

God tempts no man to evil, but for good. He tries and 
tests. Satan tempts unto evil ; he tries to infuse evil into 
the human mind. God can turn Satan's temptations into 
beneficent probations. God can overrule Satan's tempta- 
tion yielded to, and bring good out of it. God leads. 
Satan cannot tempt beyond God's permission. The child 
of God distrusts himself, dreads sin, and says to God, 
"Keep Satan, keep sinful allurements from me; keep my 
heart so that probation may not become temptation to me. 
Lead me that I may not fall, but abide in Christ" — Saphir. 
"Lead us not" has the more accurate rendering, "Bring us 
not." We are at once faced with the question, "Does God 
ever bring us into temptation?" (Jas. 1:13). There is 
a twofold sense of the word temptation. It means "trial," 
the conditions which are meant to test our faithfulness. 
It also means actual incitement, seduction in the direction 
of wrong doing. In the first sense God does tempt us. 
He tries us. In this sense He tempts us because He has 
placed us in a world wherein of necessity we are surround- 
ed by evil influences. He has endowed us with a nature 
which is now prone to sin. But God only brings us into 
temptation because He can bring us out of it. He never 
tries to make us do wrong. On the contrary, He brings 
to bear every gracious influence to keep us unseduced. 
If there were no temptation to sin, there would be no glory 
of righteousness (Jas. 1:2-4, 12). Our prayer is that 
we may not turn His trials into Satan's allurements. — . 
Farrar. 



PASSAGES 17 

Mt. 6:15 — "If ye forgive not . . . not for- 
give you." 

This becomes a stumbling block only when we fail to 
see that it has to do with Christians who have already 
been saved by grace. It is not a matter of salvation at 
all, but of fellowship with our forgiving Savior. — Dixon. 
The temper that does not forgive cannot enjoy God's for- 
giveness of his own sins, because it is a proof that he 
does not realize the amount of debt he owes. — Plumptre. 

Mt. 6:22 — "If thine eye be single thy whole 
body shall be full of light." 

The idea conveyed by the singleness of eye is threefold : 
1. Oneness — the contemplation of one object — the heart 
bent on one thing. 2. Clearness — when the eye is di- 
rected steadily towards an object, and is in health, every- 
thing becomes distinct and plain. 3. Concentration — 
the eye is single when it concentrates all its power in one 
direction — all thoughts, all action are focussed in one ob- 
ject. — Harries. There is an inward light of the mind and 
conscience which is to direct the moral part of our actions 
as the eye directs the external actions of the body. Every 
evil affection obscures this inward light, that it cannot so 
well perform its duty, but misleads into sinful courses. — 
Blair. 

Mt. 6:24 — "God and mammon." 

"Mammon" — a common word in the East, signifying 
material riches, worldly wealth. It is here personified, 
as a kind of god of this world. — Morison. 

Mt. 6:30 — "grass . . . cast into the oven." 

Cut grass, which soon withers from the heat, is still 
used in the East for firing. — Alford. The oven was a 
large round pot of earthen material, two or three feet high, 
narrow towards the top. This being first heated by a 



18 PERPLEXING 

fire made within, the dough or paste was spread upon the 
sides to bake, thus forming thin cakes. — Abbott. 

Mt. 7:3 — "beholdest mote . . . considerest 
not the beam." 

"Mote" — a stalk or twig. The illustration was a familiar 
one among the Jews, and a proverb all but verbally identi- 
cal is found as a saying of Rabbi Tarphow. — Plumptre. 

"Beam" — log, joist or rafter. A graphic and almost 
droll representation of a comparatively great fault. — 
Morison. 

Mt. 7:13 — "strait gate." 

Take the narrow gate and the narrow road. If you go 
with the crowd you will go to destruction. Do you wish 
to know what the narrow gate and the narrow road are? 
Read Mt. 18:2, 3; Acts 2:38; Jno. 3:3-5; 1:12; 
Rom. 10:9, 10; Isa. 55:7; Jno. 10:9, 14-16; 2 Cor. 6:17, 
18; Rom. 12 :2.— Torrey. 

Mt. 8:4 — "Tell no man." 

See Mk. 1 :43. This would seem a hard condition to a 
grateful heart (Ps. 66:16) but we presently see the rea- 
son for it. Mark gives the sequel (1 :45). "He went on 
and began to publish it much . . . insomuch that 
Jesus could no more openly enter the city but was without 
in desert places." Thus by an overzealous but natural 
infringement of the injunction to keep the matter quiet, 
v/as our Lord to some extent thwarted in His movements. 
We find Him repeatedly taking steps to prevent matters 
prematurely coming to a crisis with Him. — J. F. &. B. 
(See on 9:30). 

Jesus was commenting upon the faith of a Gentile cen- 
turion. Such faith, He said, He had not found in Israel, 
the chosen people, who throughout the centuries had sup- 
posedly been looking to His day through their sacrifices. 



PASSAGES 19 

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had offered in faith. Jesus 
here says that many would come from the Gentile nations 
and have a part in the heavenly kingdom to which Abra- 
ham, Isaac and Jacob belonged by faith, while the Jews, 
who were then as a nation rejecting Him, would come 
short of it. — B.. This is simply the truth declared by Paul 
in Rom. 9-11 and illustrated by the figure of the olive tree, 
some of whose natural branches (the Jews) are broken 
off, while branches of a wild olive tree (Gentiles) are 
grafted in. "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" in Mt. 8:11 
represent the true "Israel," the stock of the olive tree. — 
Mauro. 

Mt. 8:17 — "Himself took our infirmities and 
bare our sicknesses." 

Not without significance are these words quoted in con- 
nection with this remarkable Sabbath day's work. From 
morning till evening had Jesus been curing diseases — bod- 
ily, mental and spiritual. He was doubtless much fa- 
tigued. Think of the Eternal King of a city where no 
inhabitant can ever say, "I am sick," sojourning among 
suffering men. See what work ready for Him, what evils 
to grapple with in one little town of one obscure province 
of this dark earth on one Sabbath afternoon. Then think 
of His three years' ministry, day after day healing, help- 
ing, suffering with and for men. Think of the weight 
of His glorious but mighty undertaking, as it lay upon 
His mind. Think of the innumerable evils of humanity 
meeting upon Him alone — who was to redeem us from 
them, and the force of the words will make itself felt. 
The same redeeming energy was shown in these blessed 
healings as when in the latest and highest phase of it He 
offered Himself without spot to God. — Laidlaw. Note 
that this is applied not to His work on the cross, but His 
healing miracles many months before. — Thomas. He 
identified Himself with sufferers and by His sympathy 
felt their burden. — B. 



20 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 8:22 — "Let the dead bury their dead." 

The word "dead" is used first, in a figurative, secondly, 
in a literal sense. In a figurative sense by the "dead" are 
intended the spiritually dead, those who are outside the 
kingdom, who are dead to the true life. Perhaps a 
brother or brothers of this disciple had rejected Christ. 
"Let them bury their father." — Camb. Bible. The words, 
"Suffer me first to bury my father," probably do not mean 
that the man wished to put off becoming a follower of 
Jesus until he should have buried his father who at the 
time was still alive. After the natural bond which still 
united him to his parents' house was dissolved, he would 
devote himself to the new task. (The expression is 
known to have been used in this sense in Eastern countries 
in recent years.) — Wendt. 

Mt. 8:29 — "Art thou come hither to torment 
us before the time?" 

It was demons within these men that enabled them to 
recognize Jesus and that led to the awful cry of rage and 
despair. The souls of these men were in utter and hope- 
less confusion of impulses contending now heavenwards, 
now hellwards. It was what modern psychologists call 
"dual personality" and what the Bible explains as a hu- 
man personality controlled by a demon personality. The 
demons knew that there is an appointed time and place of 
torment (Mt. 25:41). The utmost they dared hope for 
was to ask for a brief respite. — Torrey. 

Mt. 8:32 — "went into a herd of swine 

herd ran violently down a steep place into the 

sea." 

Demons are set upon destruction. If they are not al- 
lowed to destroy the souls of men, they will destroy 
swine. — Meyer. The Gergesenes were Jews. What had 
they to do with swine, which by the law were unclean and 



PASSAGES 21 

forbidden to Jews and not to be eaten or touched ? Prob- 
ably they kept them to be bartered to the Romans who 
were admirers of swine's flesh. Christ suffered the de- 
mons to go into the swine. He often, for wise and holy 
ends, permits the efforts of Satan's rage and by it serves 
His own purpose. Christ may have permitted this for 
the conviction of the Sadducees who were then among the 
Jews, and who denied the existence of spirits. Or He may 
have allowed it for the punishment of the Gadarenes who, 
perhaps, though Jews, took liberty to eat swine's flesh. 
He would also show what a hellish crew they were de- 
livered from, which, if He had permitted it, would have 
choked them, as they did their swine. — Henry. 

Mt. 9:5 — "For whether is easier, to say, Thy 
sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and 
walk?" 

Jesus' words are not "whether" as in English Version, 
but "Why is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, 
than to say, Arise and walk?" They had said in their 
hearts, "It is easy to say, 'Thy sins be forgiven/ but let 
Him say, 'Rise and walk,' then we shall discover His 
blasphemy." As Jesus used the words, "Thy sins be for- 
given" implied the cure both of soul and body; but in 
order to convince the Scribes of His power, He adds the 
words "Arise and walk," and implicitly bids them infer 
that the inner work of forgiveness had as surely followed 
the first words as the outward result followed the com- 
mand to rise and walk. — Camb. Bible. 

Mt. 9:10 — "publicans and sinners." 

See on Mk. 2:15. 

Mt. 9:13 — "Learn what that meaneth, I will 
have mercy and not sacrifice." 

The words are quoted from Hos. 6 :6. "Sacrifice," the 
chief part of the ceremonial law, is here put for a re- 



22 PERPLEXING 

ligion of literal adherence to mere rules, while "mercy" 
expresses such compassion for the fallen as seeks to 
lift them up. — Brown. Sacrifice without mercy is no ac- 
ceptable sacrifice. To love sinners is a better fulfilling 
of the law than to stand aloof from them. — Carr. 

Mt. 9:14-16 — -"No man putteth a piece of new 
cloth into an old garment, for that which is put 
in to fill it up, taketh from the garment." 

(See on Mk. 2:19 — "children of the bridechamber"). 

Lit. "undressed cloth" (R. V.). It denotes cloth that 
has not passed through the process of fulling — that pro- 
cess by which cloth is thickened and made compact, as 
well as cleansed. When the upfilling patch shrinks it 
takes along with it a margin of the old and tender robe 
and the rent is made worse. — Morison. It is of no use 
trying to bind new life down to old forms ; whenever this 
is done there is conflict and confusion. — Jordan. Times 
of transition are critical. John's disciples were anxious 
to know whether Jesus meant only to reform the old 
Judaism, or to break away from it and introduce a new 
faith. On the question of fasting, for instance, they 
agreed with the Pharisees and were concerned to find 
that the disciples of Jesus differed. Jesus, by heavenly 
metaphors, shows them that it would not answer any good 
purpose to limit the new by the conditions of the old, 
or to place the Christian faith and life under the rules 
of the Pharisees, or even of John's disciples. He had 
not come to patch up Pharisaism, or to pour His doctrine 
into the rigid forms of the later Judaism. Matthew and 
Mark report the Lord as indicating the damage to the 
old whilst Luke reports Him as pointing out the injury 
to the new. In either case, the disruptive force is in the 
new. So to make Christianity a mere addendum to Rab- 
binical Judaism would only spoil the former and not pre- 
serve the latter. — Fraser. 



PASSAGES 23 

Mt. 9:17 — "put new wine into old bottles." 

"Bottles" — "wine skins" — (R. V.). Oriental bottles are 
skins of sheep or goats. Old bottles would crack and leak. 
The new wine is the new law — the freedom of Christian- 
ity. The old bottles are those, who, trained in Judaism, 
cannot receive the new law, who say the old is good enough 
(Lk. 5:39).— Carr. (See on 9:14-16). 

Mt. 9:23 — "saw the minstrels." 

"Flute-players" — (R. V.). Their presence indicated that 
the preparations for the funeral ceremonies had com- 
menced. — Horn. Com. 

Mt. 9:24 — "not dead but sleepeth." 

See on Lk. 8:52-54. 

Mt. 9:30 — "straitly charged . . . See that 
no man know it." 

See on 8:4. "Straitly" — strictly or sternly. The rea- 
son may be sought in His shrinking from mere notoriety, 
from the gaze of crowds drawn together to gaze on signs 
and wonders, and ready to make the wonder-worker a 
king because He wrought them. — Plumptre. 

Mt. 10:5-6 — "Go not into the way of the Gen- 
tiles and into any city of the Samaritans, enter 
not." 

This limitation was confined to the mission on which 
they were now sent. It recognized a divine order (Rom. 
2:9, 10)., The disciples themselves were as yet unfitted 
to enter on a work which required wider thoughts and 
hopes than they had yet attained to. — Plumptre. Home 
first is the dictate of a true philanthropy. We have great- 
er facilities for giving the Gospel to our neighbors than 
to foreigners. The stronger the forces in the center, the 
more powerfully the influence will be felt at the extremi- 
ties. — Thomas. 



24 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 10:9-10— "Provide neither gold nor silver 
nor scrip . . . neither two coats." 

The central thought here is urgency. The emphasis 
is upon the word "provide." Time is not to be taken to 
search for additional staves or shoes. They were to go 
in their ordinary sandals, with such staff as they might 
have, or with none. — Scofield. "Scrip." — wallet. — Booth. 

Mt. 10:10 — "workman is worthy of his meat." 

"Meat" — food or maintenance. A principle authorita- 
tively applied to the services of the Lord's workmen, and 
by Paul repeatedly and touchingly employed in his appeals 
to the churches (Rom. 15 :27; 1 Cor. 9:11 ; Gal. 6:6), and 
once as "Scripture" (1 Tim. 5:18).— J. F. & B. 

Mt. 10:12 — "When ye come into an house, 
salute it." 

Saying, "Peace be unto you," the usual salutation at 
this day. — Carr. 

Mt. 10:13 — "If the house be worthy, let your 
peace come upon it." 

Their first thought on entering a home should be for 
the good of the home. Their benediction would not be 
empty words but backed by divine power. If the house 
was worthy, their peace would come upon it, otherwise 
the benediction would not be lost, for it would come back 
again and bless them. True prayers are never lost. — 
Torrey. (See on Lk. 10:6). 

Mt. 10:14 — "Shake off the dust of your feet." 

Implying that the city was to be treated as a heathen 
place the very dust of which was defiling. — Mansel. In 
the most public and impressive way they were to show 
their utter separation from it and its impending doom. 



PASSAGES 25 

In this way they were to testify to it of God's utter ab- 
horrence of its deeds. Responsibility, guilt and punish- 
ment are measured by the amount of light that one sins 
against (v. 15). — Torrey. 

Mt. 10:16 — "wise as serpents . . . harm- 
less as doves." 

He spoke of serpent-like prudence evidently with ex- 
clusive reference to the shrewd instinct by which those 
creatures perceive impending danger and avoid it. His 
apostles ought not to involve themselves needlessly in 
trouble or danger. Zeal is good but if not associated 
with discretion, it may do harm by provoking irritation 
against the truth and exposing holy things to contempt. 
"Harmless as doves. " When persecuted they could no 
more fight their enemies than sheep could fight a pack 
of wolves. Their meek endurance was to win a signal vic- 
tory. — Horn. Com. 

Mt. 10:22 — "He that endureth to the end shall 
be saved." 

Endurance to the end is that which characterizes a 
real work of God in the soul. The salvation of the 
soul is a present possession of the believer ( 1 Pet. 1 :9 ; 
Jno. 5:24), not a reward for enduring to the end, al- 
though the true believer will do that. In the passage 
before us spiritual salvation is not so much in question 
as physical preservation as the reward and manifestation 
of spiritual faithfulness. — Hoste. 

Mt. 10:23 — "Ye shall not have gone over the 
cities of Israel, till the Son of man come." 

The Lord willed to come personally to "the cities of 
Israel." As He said in another place, "I must preach the 
Kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore am I 
sent (Lk. 4:43), It was the purpose of God to give a 



26 PERPLEXING 

special announcement to the cities of Israel, as appears 
in the prophecies of Isaiah. It was a matter of His 
coming to those cities at that time (He was not refer- 
ring to His second coming). It was fitted to His dignity 
to send messengers before His face to the cities to which 
He was about to come. He was to follow them so closely 
(especially as the time for executing this mission was 
short) that they were not to linger in any city where they 
encountered persecution, for in any case they would not 
have completed all the cities of Israel till the Son of man 
should come Himself/ — Mauro. 

Mt. 10:25 — "called the Master . . . Beelzebub." 

Title of a heathen deity, used by Jews as a name of 
Satan. — Scofield Bible. 



Mt. 10:27 — "What ye hear in the ear 
preach upon the housetops." 



There was a custom of the "divinity school" of the 
synagogue where the master whispered into the ear of 
the interpreter who then repeated in a loud voice what he 
had heard. — Lightfoot. "Upon housetops" — the fiat roofs 
of which were often actually used by criers and heralds 
for their announcements. — Plumptre. 

Mt. 10:29 — "two sparrows sold for a farthing." 

Cf. Lk. 12:6 (five sparrows for two farthings — one 
thrown in when two farthings worth were bought). 
Jesus is quoting the market price on sparrows. The odd 
one thrown in emphasizes its insignificance, yet not even 
one falls without the Father's notice. — Farr. Creatures 
so worthless in men's eyes are far from despicable in His 
sight. Well, therefore, may we leave that which is vital 
to us in those all-Fatherly hands. — Booth. 



PASSAGES 27 

Mt. 10:34 — "I am come not to send peace, but 
a sword." 

Peace is spoken of in Scripture in three ways: 1. 
"Peace with God" (Rom. 5:1), the work of Christ into 
which the individual enters by faith (Eph. 2:14-17). 
2. "Peace of God" (Phil. 4:7), inward peace, the state 
of the believer's soul, who, having peace with God, has 
committed to God all his anxieties. 3. "Peace on 
earth," universal prevalency of peace in the earth. Mt. 
10 :34 was Christ's warning that the Gospel truth He was 
proclaiming would not bring in the kingdom age of peace, 
but conflict rather. — Scofield Bible.. The ultimate pur- 
pose is peace; but an immediate purpose is conflict as the 
only road to peace. — Maclaren. 

Mt. 10:38 — "he that taketh not his cross." 

Each follower of Christ has his own cross, that is, the 
shame and suffering that are inevitably connected with 
following in the footsteps of the Master. — Torrey. 

Mt. 10:39 — "He that nndeth his life shall lose 
it." 

To try to save your life is to lose it. — Weymouth. We 
rnay try to save our lives by being disloyal to Him at some 
point, but instead of finding our life in this way, we shall 
lose it. But if we are ready to sacrifice our life, if need 
be, because of our loyalty to Him, we shall find it. — Tor- 
rey. 

Mt. 10:41 — "He that receiveth a prophet in the 
name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's 
reward . . . righteous man's reward." 

The Master is speaking to His disciples before sending 
them forth on a missionary enterprise. He tells them 
what kind of treatment they are to expect. He sought 
to show that a man's true wealth lay not in his belongings, 



28 PERPLEXING 

not in his surroundings, but in himself. The true reward 
of the prophet is growing power of seeing more deeply 
into the deep things of God, and the growing power of 
revealing them more and more clearly to men. The true 
reward of the righteous man is his becoming more right- 
eous still, his finding the path of duty before him growing 
clearer, and himself more able to walk in it without stum- 
bling. — Ewen. 

Mt. 10:42 — "only in the name of a disciple." 

Or as it is in Mark (9:41), "because ye are Christ's." 
— Jamieson. God appreciates a gift according to the 
motive that actuates the giver. If the gift of a cup of 
cold water is always rewarded, then all the world might 
be rewarded. A distinction is drawn between mere an- 
imal kindness and Christian generosity. — Parker. 

Mt. 11:7-8 — "What went ye out to see — a reed 
a man clothed in soft raiment?" 

As soon as the messengers had gone to John, He tells 
the people what He thinks of him. He, in effect, depre- 
cates the thought of judging John by a message sent in 
an hour of weakness and despondency. "Do not imagine 
for a moment," He seems to say, "that the man you 
went out into the wilderness to see, is feeble as a reed, 
or soft as a courtier. He is all, and more than all you 
took him to be. He is a prophet indeed and much more 
for he is a herald of the heavenly King." — Gibson. 

Mt. 11:11 — "There hath not risen a greater than 
John . . . Notwithstanding he that is least 
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." 

The least in a higher dispensation has great advantages 
over the greatest in a lower one. — Meyer. He lived to 
see the day when the great prophecies concerning the first 
coming of the Messiah were fulfilled; lived to look into 



PASSAGES 29 

His face and announce the King at the door. But great 
as were his privileges, he did not live to enjoy the privi- 
leges of the kingdom. John was the friend of the 
Bridegroom (John 3:39). He had great joy in being 
the forerunner, and did not hesitate to declare that he 
must decrease; his light must wane as the light of the 
Lord Jesus shone forth. — Horton. 

Mt. 11:12 — "The kingdom of heaven suffereth 
violence and the violent take it by force." 

Strong translates the words "suffereth violence" as "is 
crowded into," and the words "take by force" as "the 
energetic grasp it." The Companion Bible says, "the 
forceful ones lay hold of it." The Cambridge Bible says, 
"forces itself upon men's attention and the earnest win 
their way into it." — B. "The kingdom of heaven is being 
invaded and the invaders are seizing upon it." — Rother- 
ham. It has been suggested that the Lord is here allud- 
ing to the violence suffered already by John the Baptist 
and later by Himself. Support for this suggestion is 
found in the fact that the Lord on several occasions identi- 
fied the kingdom with His own Person. In the very next 
chapter He said, "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of 
God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you" ( 12 : 
28) . The kingdom of God is that spiritual domain where- 
in the Spirit of God is and acts (Rom. 14:17). In Luke 
17:21 the Lord was plainly referring to Himself when 
He said, "Behold, the kingdom of God in the midst of 
you now is." — Mauro. 

Mt. 11:14 — "If ye will receive it, this is Elias 
which was for to come." 

John was the personal duplicate of Elijah. There 
was in him the reproduction of the spirit of power of the 
Old Testament prophet. — Morison. The "if ye will re- 
ceive it" does not indicate any uncertainty as to John be- 
ing the promised second Elijah, but indicates uncertainty 



30 PERPLEXING 

as to whether those addressed would receive that which 
was being witnessed to them. He says in effect, "If ye 
will receive the testimony given you, well and good, but 
in any case this is the Elijah which was to come" (See 
Mt. 17:9-13). But it may be objected that John him- 
self, in another place, when asked, "Art thou Elias?" an- 
swered, "I am not." It may be that John did not, at 
the time, know that he was the fulfiller of Malachi's proph- 
ecy. The Lord, after John's ministry was completed and 
John was in prison, declared him to be the fulfiller of 
Malachi's prophecy. — Mauro. Or John (in John 1:21) 
may have been speaking literally. If they thought him 
to be Elijah incarnate, returned to earth again, they were 
wrong. He was Elijah in a figurative sense. — B. (See 
on Mk. 9:12.) 



Mt. 11:16-17 — "children sitting in the markets 
We have piped unto you and ye have 
not danced . . . mourned and ye have not 
lamented." 

He likens the Scribes and Pharisees to children whose 
comrades have sought to play with them. They have 
played that it was a funeral, but the others would not play 
the game. They played it was a wedding, but still they 
sulked. They would not play. John came demanding 
repentance. He lived an austere life and spoke of judg- 
ment, but they said he was too austere ; that he had a de- 
mon. Jesus came mingling with men. He made but lit- 
tle of the exactions required by the Pharisees, and they 
said He was a glutton and a winebibber. They would not 
receive the message of John, neither would they receive 
the message of Jesus.. They would not play. They 
sulked, grumbled. — Horton. 

Mt. 11:19 — "Wisdom is justified of her children." 

"Wisdom"— God regarded as the All- Wise. "Justified" 
— acquitted of folly. That is, the spiritual recognize the 



PASSAGES 31 

wisdom of God both in the austerity of John and the lov- 
ing mercy of Jesus. — Horn. Com. 

Mt. 11:21 — "repented in sackcloth and ashes." 

In the East it was common for mourners to put on a 
black garment which resembled a sack, with holes for the 
arms, and to strew ashes upon the head — the symbol of 
mourning and repentance. — Lange. 

Mt. 11:25 — "hid from wise and prudent . . . 
revealed unto babes." 

Suppose the revealing of spiritual things had been to the 
intellectual as such, what would have been the result ? The 
kingdom of heaven would have become a mere scholarship 
prize, and however good a thing scholarship may be, and 
however important that it be encouraged, this is not the 
work of the Christ of God. His gospel is for all, so it 
is addressed, not to the great in intellect, which would con- 
fine it to the few, but to the lowly in heart, which brings 
it within reach of all — for the very wisest and greatest in 
intellect may be and ought to be meek and lowly in heart. 
— Expos. Bible. 

Mt. 11:30 — "My yoke is easy and my burden 
is light." 

A yoke suggests fellowship in service. A yoke is for 
two. He calls us to the fellowship of His sufferings, yet 
the suffering of friends makes them one. This is why 
His yoke is easy and His burden light. He sustains the 
heavy end. Blessed yoke, as we lift it up, it lifts us up. 
Christ's load carries him who carries it. — Farr. 

Mt. 12:7 — "I will have mercy and not sacrifice." 

See on Mt. 9:13. Here the meaning is that God is 
satisfied if men keep the Sabbath in the right spirit — as a 



32 PERPLEXING 

day of holy rest. It was not intended simply as a day 
when obedience was demanded to an irksome code of 
Sabbath observance. The Sabbath was made for man, 
not man for the Sabbath. (Mk. 2 :27) — Dummelow. 

Mt. 12:19-20 — "shall not strive nor cry . . . 
bruised reed shall he not break . . . smok- 
ing flax shall he not quench, till he send forth 
judgment unto victory." 

A reed is not of much account. You see hundreds of 
them encircling a stagnant pond and bending before the 
breeze, A bruised reed is still more worthless to the 
eye of the world. Yet the Master does not despise a 
bruised or broken reed. He bends over it and tries to 
restore its shape. Flax does not burn readily. It only 
smolders. The spark runs feebly up the fibres, and any- 
thing like a flame is impossible. Such is our poor love. 
It sometimes seems but a spark, yet Jesus does not de- 
spise it. So far from quenching it, He breathes on it. 
places it in the oxygen of His love, and screens it from, 
the wind that would extinguish it. How gentle, quiet, un- 
obtrusive in our Master's way. He is so careful that 
nothing be wasted, so eager to make the most of us. It 
is out of such materials that He makes His ever-victorious 
army. — Meyer. 

Mt. 12:24 — "Beelzebub." 
See on Mk. 3 :22. 

Mt. 12:30 — "He that gathereth not with me 
scattereth abroad." 

Christ's errand in the world was to gather in His har- 
vest, those whom the Father had given Him (Jno. 11 :52; 
Eph. 1:10). He expects those who are with Him to 
gather with Him — do all they can to gather others to 
Him and so strengthen His interest. Those who will not 
be furtherers of His kingdom are looked upon as hinder- 
ers of it. — Henry. 



PASSAGES 33 

Mt. 12:31-32 — "Blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." 

Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is deliberate attri- 
buting to the devil what is known to be the work of the 
Holy Spirit. The Pharisees knew in their innermost 
heart that what Jesus was doing He was doing by the 
power of the Spirit of God (v. 28), but they were not 
willing to accept Jesus and His claims and in this op- 
position they deliberately attributed to Beelzebub what 
they knew to be the work of the Spirit. One who com- 
mits this sin becomes so hardened that he will not come to 
Jesus. His eternal destiny is sealed. If anyone has a 
desire to repent or turn to Christ, that of itself is a proof 
that he has not committed this sin. (Jno. 6:37.) — Torrey. 

Mt. 12:36-37 — "Every idle word . . . give 
account of ... by thy words thou shalt 
be justified and by thy words thou shalt be 
condemned." 

"Idle word"— See 1 Tim. 5:13. 

If we think of the day of judgment it may be a check 
upon our tongues. Vain, idle, impertinent talk is dis- 
pleasing to God. It is the product of a trifling heart. 
Such words will be produced in evidence against us at 
Christ's judgment seat. Those who repent not of idle words 
and do not have them balanced by the blood of Christ, are 
undone. By their words some will be justified or con- 
demned. Those who seemed to be religious but bridled 
not their tongues, will in the judgment be found to have 
put a cheat upon themselves with a vain religion (Jas. 
1:26; Job 15:6; Prov. 18:21).— Henry. "Thy words 
shall be the ground of thy acquittal or condemnation." 
Character shows itself by words. — Carr. Words exhibit 
the righteousness or unrighteousness which is in the heart. 
— Bengel. 



34 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 12:41 — "Men of Nineveh shall rise in 
judgment with this generation." 

More exactly, "stand up in the judgment." When, on the 
day of judgment, the Ninevites stand side by side with the 
men of that generation, they will condemn the impenitent 
Jews. — Camb. Bible. The word "rise" is used not of the 
mere fact of resurrection, but of standing up as witnesses. 
— Plumptre. 

Mt. 12:42 — 'The queen of the south shall rise 
up in the judgment with this generation." 

The queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1) went, uninvited, a 
long journey to Jerusalem that she might hear the wisdom 
of Solomon. Her procedure condemns those to whom 
God has brought nigh His Word. — Fletcher. "Greater 
than Solomon" — Solomon was wise, but here (in Christ) 
is wisdom itself. — Bengel. 

Mt. 12:43-45 — "When the unclean spirit is gone 
out of a man he walketh through dry places 
seeking rest and findeth none . . . taketh 
with him seven other spirits . . . last state 
is worse." 

As a generation that were resolved to continue under 
the power of Satan, notwithstanding all the methods that 
were used to dispossess him and rescue them, they are 
compared to one out of whom the devil is gone, but into 
whom he returns with double force. Evil spirits are wont 
sometimes to sport with those they have had possession of, 
going out and returning again with more fury. When the 
evil spirit is gone out, he is uneasy and walks in dry places 
like one that is very melancholy and finds no rest until 
he returns again. "So shall it be with this generation," 
that now resist and will finally reject my Gospel. — Henry. 
Israel, in the midst of the Pharisaic revival of outward 
religious strictness, was like a man out of whom a demon 



PASSAGES 35 

had gone — i. e. — of his own volition. He would come 
back and find an empty house. The personal application 
is to a mere self-cleansed moralist. — Scofield. It is not 
enough that the unclean spirit go out of a man, unless the 
Holy Spirit comes in to take his place. It is not enough 
that the house is "swept and garnished" if it is empty. 
It must be occupied by Him alone who can keep out the 
evil spirits, the Holy Spirit. Reformation is not salva- 
tion. — Torrey. 

Mt. 12:50 — "Whosoever shall do the will of my 
Father ... is my brother, and sister, and 
mother." 

"There stand here the members of a family transcend- 
ing and surviving this of earth. Filial subjection to the 
will of My Father in heaven is the indissoluble bond of 
union between Me and its members; and whosoever en- 
ters this hallowed circle becomes to Me My (spiritual) 
brother, and sister, and mother." — Jamieson. 

Mt. 13:12 — "Whosoever hath, to him shall be 
given and he shall have more abundance: but 
whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken 
even that which he hath." 

As a great ethical principle we see this in operation 
everywhere., Moral principles become stronger by exer- 
cise, while by disuse, or the exercise of their contraries, 
they wax weaker and at length expire. Here it is viewed 
as a judicial retribution in continual operation under the 
divine administration. — Brown. To the one that had, be- 
cause he used what was already given, more should be 
given. To everyone who had not, because he turned a 
deaf ear to what had been spoken, even that which he had 
would be taken away. — Torrey. 



36 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 13:13-15 — "By hearing ye shall hear and 
shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see 
and not perceive." 

"You will hear and hear and by no means understand ; 
you will look and look and by no means see ; for this peo- 
ple's mind is stupified." — Weymouth. There are many 
that see the Gospel light and hear the Gospel sound but 
it never reaches their hearts nor has any place in them. 
It is just with God to take away the light from those that 
shut their eyes against it. — Henry. Men who have lived 
in traditional knowledge do not thank you for new truth. 
It dazes and confounds their dim vision, which is unsuited 
to its reception. — Scientific Illus. (See on Jno. 12:40). 

Mt. 13:24-30 — "kingdom of heaven . . . 
tares among the wheat." 

"Kingdom of heaven" — here, the scene where the au- 
thority of Christ is acknowledged. All that portion of the 
world geographically covered by Christianity, commonly 
termed Christendom. This sphere on earth is one of pro- 
fession, both real and false. The true church, on the other 
hand, is the aggregate of the saved — those truly regener- 
ated by the Holy Ghost. — Scott, The wheat of God at 
once becomes the scene of Satan's activity. Where chil- 
dren of the kingdom are gathered, there "among the 
wheat" Satan sows "children of the wicked one" who pro- 
fess to be children of the kingdom, and in outward ways 
are so like the children that only the angels may, in the 
end, be trusted to separate them. — Scofield Bible. 

Mt. 13:31-32 — "kingdom of heaven like a mus- 
tard seed . . . when it is grown it is the 
greatest among herbs . . . birds of the air 
lodge in the branches." 

The parable prefigures the rapid but unsubstantial 
growth of Christendom from an insignificant beginning to 
a great place in the earth. The figure of fowls finding 



PASSAGES 37 

shelter in the branches is drawn from Daniel 4:20-22. 
How insecure was such a refuge the context in Daniel 
shows. — Scofield. This tree, whose roots are stuck deep 
in the soil of this corrupt world from which it draws 
its nourishment, and whose top aspires to the place of 
supreme importance, has no trace of the heavenly king- 
dom which the Lord brought into the world, but has deck- 
ed itself with all the trappings of earthly greatness. — Sel. 
Birds of the air represent worldly powers of evil (Ezek. 
18:20-24; Dan. 4:20-22), a picture of unconverted peo- 
ple allying themselves with Christendom for the benefits 
conferred by such association. — Evans. The birds are no 
part of the tree itself. They are foreign to it and ready 
to fly away at the least alarm. They cannot represent 
converts. Branches, not birds, more fitly stand for con- 
verts (Jno. 15:5). — Needham. The birds snatch away 
from the hearts of men the seeds of truth, sometimes by 
denial, sometimes by subterfuge, sometimes by skillfully 
removing the kernel while leaving the verbal husk of sound 
doctrine. — Mauro. 

Mt. 13:33-35 — "kingdom of heaven like unto 
leaven . . . hid in three measures of 
meal." 

The kingdom is likened not merely to leaven, but to a 
woman hiding leaven in meal. The woman's action sug- 
gests a secret introduction of a foreign substance which 
affects that into which it is put, and in view of Lev. 2:11, 
which prohibits leaven with the meal offerings, it seems 
clear that the parable represents the woman as introduc- 
ing a substance which renders the offering unacceptable 
to God. — Thomas. Leaven was to the Jews a symbol of 
evil. There could be no two opinions amongst them as 
to its signifying evil. Word means "sour dough." — Hab- 
ershon. 1 Cor. 5 :6-8 is an inspired commentary on 
"leaven." Our Lord Himself fixed the meaning of 
leaven (Mt. 16:6-12; Mk. 8:15). It is invariably used in 
a bad sense. It constitutes a warning that the true doc- 



38 PERPLEXING 

trine given for the nourishment of the children of the 
kingdom would be mixed with corrupting false doctrine 
(1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 2:17, 18; 4:3, 4; 2 Pet. 2:1-3).— 
Scofield Bible. If leaven signified the diffusive power of 
Christianity, the tares would be eradicated before the 
harvest. — B. Leaven is a piece of dough in a state of de- 
composition caused by the presence in it of tiny organisms 
which produce rapid corruption. — Mauro. The Gospel 
does not work like leaven. It must be propagated with 
great vigor in order to make progress. Evil, left to it- 
self, works like leaven, quietly permeating. — Gurney. The 
woman, under Satanic influence, corrupts the doctrine of 
Christ, a prophecy abundantly fulfilled. ( See Rev. 2 :20 ; 
Rev. 16 and 17, referring to the Romish apostasy). Rome 
speaks of "Mother Church" and she is the corruptress of 
true Christianity. Note also other corruptions originating 
with women: Christian Science, Seventh Day Advent- 
ism, Spiritism, Theosophy, etc. — Gaebelein. If the woman 
is doing good, all ethics of other Scriptures are being re- 
versed, for to Christ the Man, never the woman, symboli- 
cally or actually, belongs the source and power of salva- 
tion. — Needham. "Three measures of meal." The meal 
offering speaks in Scripture of Christ as the food of His 
people of which they partook in communion with God. 
The woman is doing what the Word of God prohibits. 
She is putting leaven (Lev. 2:11) into the meal. — Grant. 
Nothing evil is written anywhere of meal. It is whole- 
some and life-giving until corrupted with mixtures. Can 
that which is sour make sweet that which is already sweet ? 
— Needham. "The whole was leavened." Jesus clearly 
teaches that the world will not be converted in this age. 
The apostles teach the same thing. The parable shows 
a Christendom corrupted, and it is in a condition with 
which the Lord Himself, with the angels, will take desper- 
ate measures. — Eliot. 



PASSAGES 39 

Mt. 13:44 — "kingdom . . . like unto a 
treasure hid in a field . . . when a man 
hath found, he hideth . . . and goeth and 
selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field." 

"Treasure hid in a field." The field is the world, the 
hidden treasure, Israel (Jer. 31:5-12, 18-20; Ex. 19:5; 
Ps. 135:4). Christ gave His life for the world (1 Jno. 
2:2) but in a special sense for Israel (Jno. 11 :51). What 
joy He will have when He takes this treasure to Himself ! 
(Deut. 30:9; Is. 49:13; 62 :4-7).— Gray. A sinner has 
nothing to sell, nor is Christ for sale, nor is He hidden in 
a field, nor, having found Christ, does the sinner hide 
Him again. — Scofield. Whoever the buyer is, he buys not 
the treasure only but the whole field. What sinner, were 
it possible for him to purchase, could buy more than his 
own personal salvation? — Needham. "He hideth it." The 
reference to the hiding of the treasure is explained by the 
fact that the nation Israel was to be (and has been) hid- 
den, so to speak, throughout this age, having no place a- 
mong the nations of the earth, but God knows where to 
find them. — Mauro. 

Mt. 13:45, 46 — "kingdom . . like a 
merchant seeking goodly pearls." 

"Goodly pearls." The priceless value of the pearl when 
exhibited would be acknowledged by all, and it seems to 
look onward to the time when He shall come to be ad- 
mired in all them that believe, and when the gem He has 
won (the true church) from the ocean of the world, shall 
be the center of the universe. — Habershon. The pearl 
refers probably to the church just as the rich treasure re- 
fers to Israel. To what depths Jesus descended to pur- 
chase it! (Eph. 5:25-27; Rom. 10:7-10.)— Evans. 

"Sold all." Is there not a deep sense in which Jesus has 
renounced all that He might purchase for Himself the 
church, His bride ? He is the merchant and we the pearl, 
though only in His eyes, the eyes of love, could we be 



40 PERPLEXING 

held worthy of all that He surrendered to win us. — Meyer. 
There are two statements of Paul which agree so closely 
with the statement of the parable as to exhibit a clearly 
designed correspondence. To the elders at Ephesus Paul 
spoke of the church of God which He had purchased with 
His own blood (Acts 20:28), and in writing to the Ephe- 
sians he said, "Christ loved the church and gave Himself 
(all that He had) for it." (Eph. 5 :25.)— Mauro. 

Mt. 13:50 — "furnace of fire . . . wailing 
and gnashing of teeth." 

"Furnace of fire." Everlasting misery will certainly be 
the portion of those who live among sanctified ones but 
themselves die unsanctified. Christ often preached of hell 
torments as the everlasting punishment of hypocrites. It 
is good for us to be often reminded of this awakening, 
quickening truth. — Henry. "Weeping and gnashing of 
teeth." By their weeping is set forth their overwhelming 
sorrow, by their gnashing of teeth, their impotent rage. — 
Torrey. 

Mt. 13:52 — "Every scribe which is instructed 
unto the kingdom . . . bringeth forth out 
of his treasure things new and old/' 

"Instructed unto the kingdom." The one who is really 
instructed in the kingdom will prove it by imparting the 
treasure to others also. — Torrey. "Things new and old." 
Just as the householder brings from his stores precious 
things which have been heirlooms for generations, as well 
as newly acquired treasures, the disciples, following their 
Master's example, will exhibit the true teaching of the old 
law and add thereto the new lessons of Christianity. — 
Carr. 

Mt. 13:55 — "his brethren." 

Probably sons of Joseph and Mary. Two other theories 
have been advanced : 1 . The brethren were His cousins, 



PASSAGES 41 

being sons of Cleopas and Mary, a sister of the Virgin 
Mary. 2. They were sons of Joseph by a former mar- 
riage. Neither of these theories derives any support from 
the direct words of Scripture and some facts tend to dis- 
prove them. — Camb. Bible. 

Mt. 15:4-6 — "Let him die the death . . . 
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or 
mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest 
be profited by me; ... he shall be free." 

"Let him die the death." "Let him certainly be put to 
death." — Weymouth. The expression "die the death" is 
idiomatic but now obsolete. It is intended to be emphatic. 
— Morison. "It is a gift, etc." — "It is devoted to sacred 
uses." The Scribes held that these words, even when 
pronounced in spite and anger against parents who needed 
financial succor, excused the son from his natural duty, 
and on the other hand, did not oblige him really to devote 
the sum to the service of God or the temple. — Camb. Bible. 
The duty of children to parents is straitly urged by God's 
command. No gift or voluntary offering presented to 
God can please Him when the duty of love owing to par- 
ents is neglected or contravened thereby, for Christ calls 
such a gift, a breach of the fifth commandment. — Dickson. 

Mt. 15:11 — "Not that which goeth into the 
mouth, defileth a man; but that which cometh 
out." 

Men are constantly rising up with their legalism and 
Pharisaism and saying, "Thou shalt not eat this and thou 
shalt not eat that" until life becomes a wearisome burden. 
Our Lord here tells us that this is not true religion. Let 
the heart be kept pure by the cleansing of the Word and of 
the Spirit and then live out naturally with the joyous free- 
dom of a child of God, what God has wrought in your 
hearts. — Torrey. The fountain of the pollution of a 
man's actions is his heart, conscience and affections not 
being rightly disposed. — Dickson. (See on Mk. 7:15.) 



42 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 15:23 — "He answered her not a word." 

Addressed by a Gentile as Son of David, He makes no 
reply, for a Gentile has no claim upon Him in that char- 
acter. Addressing Him as "Lord" she obtained an im- 
mediate answer. — Scofield. First He answered her not 
a word. Then He reminded her that she did not belong 
to Israel, as if therefore she could have no claim on Him. 
What does all this mean? He knew what was in this 
noble woman's heart and He wished to bring it out — to 
bring it out so that the disciples should see it and learn 
its lesson. He very much needed a shining example of 
living faith to set over against the dead formalism of 
these traditionalists, and here it is. He tested her to the 
uttermost because He knew that at the end of all, He could 
say, "Oh, woman, great is thy faith." — Gibson. 

Mt. 15:26 — "take the children's bread and cast 
it to dogs/' 

The Gentiles were looked upon by the Jews with con- 
tempt and called dogs. Christ for the moment seems to 
allow it and says it is not meet that the Gentiles should 
share in the covenant favors bestowed on the chosen peo- 
ple. But see how the tables are turned. After the bring- 
ing of the Gentiles into the church, the Jewish zealots for 
the law are called dogs (Phil. 3 :2).— J. F. & B. (See on 
Mk. 7:27.) 

Mt. 16:4— —"sign of the prophet Jonas." 

As if to say, "I refer you to my former statement on 
this subject as sufficient and final" (12:39-40). — Lange. 
This was an announcement of His resurrection three days 
after His death. Jonah's case was analogous to this, as 
being a signal judgment of God, reversed in three days 
and followed by a glorious mission to the Gentiles.— J. 
F. &B. 



PASSAGES 43 

Mt. 16:6 — "leaven of the Pharisees." 

See on Mk. 8:15. 

Mt. 16:17-18 — "Thou art Peter and upon this 
rock I will build my church." 

There is a Greek play upon the words "Thou art Peter" 
(Petros — a little rock) and "upon this rock (petra) I will 
build my church." He does not promise to build His 
church upon Peter (as affirmed by the Roman Catholic 
Church) but upon Himself, as Peter is careful to tell us 
(1 Pet. 2:4-9). — Scofield. "Petra" is feminine and 
therefore could not refer to Peter, but if it refers to 
Peter's confession concerning Christ, then it would agree 
with "homologia" (feminine) which is rendered "confes- 
sion" in 1 Tim. 6:13 and "profession" in 1 Tim. 6:12; 
Heb. 3:1; 4:14; 10:23.— Comp. Bible. Peter confesses 
Christ as Son of God. The church is founded on this 
rock (Eph. 2:20). — Brooks. Jesus is Himself the chief 
cornerstone of the church (Eph. 2:20; 1 Cor. 3:11; Isa. 
28:16) and all built upon Him become themselves "living 
stones" (1 Pet. 2 :5-6).— Torrey. 

Mt. 16:19 — "I will give unto thee the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou 
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: 

The apostolic history explains and limits this trust to 
Peter for it was Peter who opened the door of Christian 
opportunity to Israel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38- 
42) and to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius (Acts 
10:34-46). There was no assumption by Peter of any 
other authority (Acts 15 :7-ll). In the council, James, not 
Peter, presided (Acts 15:13, 19). Peter claimed no more 
for himself than to be an apostle by gift (1 Pet. 1:1) and 
an elder by office (1 Pet. 5 :1). The power of binding and 
loosing was shared (Mt. 18:18; Jn. 20:23) by other dis- 
ciples. That it did not involve the determination of the 



44 PERPLEXING 

eternal destiny of souls is clear from Rev. 1 :18. The keys 
of death and the place of departed spirits are held by 
Christ alone. — Scofield Bible. "Binding" and "loosing" re- 
fer to affairs in the church. Note that they did not bind 
persons but things ("whatsoever," not "whosoever"). 
See Jn. 20:22-23. Refers to such things as ceremonies 
and Old Testament laws apt to be brought by Jews into 
the early church. — Brooks. The saying refers to points 
of doctrine or practice which might come into dispute. 
Among Jewish Rabbis, to bind meant to forbid or declare 
forbidden ; to loose meant to allow or declare allowed. We 
understand therefore that the apostles were authorized to 
teach and guide their fellow Christians, showing what 
rites and ordinances were superseded and how debatable 
questions should be settled in the new community. In fact, 
the power to bind and loose was just the function of di- 
recting the judgment and practice of the new-born, inex- 
perienced church, and ordering its beginning of thought 
and life according to the mind of Christ (the New Testa- 
ment not then having been written to direct them). — 
Fraser. (See on Jn. 20:23.) 

Mt. 16:20 — "charged his disciples that they 
should tell no man he was Jesus the Christ. 

Had they done so, those who believed in any way that 
Jesus was the Christ might have sought for an earthly 
kingdom with seditious uproar, whilst the rest, and by far 
the greater number, might have rejected such a Messiah 
at that time more vehemently, and have been guilty of 
greater sin in crucifying Him, so as to have the door of 
repentance, less open to them for the future. It was not 
suitable therefore at this time that this should be openly 
preached by the apostles to others before His resurrection, 
which would corroborate the whole testimony of the fact 
of His being the Christ. Afterwards, the apostles openly 
bore witness to this truth. — Bengel. (See on Mk. 8 :29-30.) 



PASSAGES 45 

Mt. 16:23 — "Get thee behind me, Satan." 

See on Mk. 8 :33. 

Mt. 16:25 — "Whosoever will save his life shall 
lose it. 

See on 10:39. 

Mt. 16:28 — "There be some standing here 
which shall not taste of death till they see the 
Son of man coming in his kingdom/' 

This verse belongs properly with chapter 17. It was 
in His transfiguration that three of those standing there 
saw the Son of man coming in His kingdom. It was 
granted to Peter, James and John to qualify them to be 
more efficient witnesses for Christ. — Torrey. 

Mt. 17:4 — "Let us make three tabernacles." 

Peter acted just like himself on this occasion. He knew 
not what to say and therefore should have kept still. — 
Torrey. The invention of Peter, though ill-advised, gives 
the whole episode a stamp of reality. — Lagrange. 

Mt. 17:11-12 — "Elias shall first come and re- 
store all things . . . Elias is come already." 

"If thou art the Messiah," they say, "and shalt rise 
from the dead, surely the Scribes are wrong in teaching 
that Elijah must precede the Messiah. " Jesus shows that 
the prophecy of Mai. 4:5 was fulfilled in John the Bap- 
tist. Others contend that our Lord's words do not neces- 
sarily mean this but that Malachi's prediction, though 
partially fulfilled in John, should have a more literal ac- 
complishment before Christ's second coming. — Camb. 
Bible. Here, as in Malachi, the prediction fulfilled in John 
the Baptist, and that yet to be fulfilled in Elijah, are kept 
distinct. But John the Baptist had come already with a 
ministry so completely "in the spirit and power" of Eli- 
jah's future ministry that in a typical sense it could be 
said, "Elias is come already." — Scofield Bible. 



46 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 17:25-26 — "Of whom do the kings . . . 
take custom or tribute? ... of their own 
children or of strangers? Peter said 
Of strangers." 

"What do you think, Simon, from whom do the kings 
of the earth take tax or toll? from their own children or 
from other people? From other people, said Peter." — 
Fenton Translation. 

v. 26. "Then are the children (the sons — R. V.) free." 
Therefore Jesus, being the Son of the Heavenly King, is 
free from the temple tax. "Sons" or "children" is not 
meant to include the apostles or Christians generally. The 
plural is only part of the simile. — Dummelow. The whole 
point of the story depends upon the fact that this tribute 
money which was due was not a civil but an ecclesiastical 
impost. Christ here claims in some sense, Sonship to Him 
to whom the temple tax is paid, that is, to God, and there- 
fore freedom from the obligation to pay the tribute. He 
will submit, Son though He be, to this complete identifi- 
cation of Himself with us. But He will so submit as, even 
in submitting, to assert His divine dignity. A multiform 
miracle — a miracle of omniscience and a miracle of in- 
fluence over the lower creatures — is wrought. — Maclaren. 



Mt. 18:5-6 — "Whoso shall receive one such little 
child receiveth me . . . whoso shall offend 



Not a literal child, but a child-like, humble believer of 
any age. The child is taken as representing a class. Christ 
Himself is honored when His saints are honored for their 
likeness to Him. "But whoso shall offend" — (cause to 
stumble) a true believer, it were profitable for him (R. 
V.) that he were drowned, etc. Those who upset believ- 
ers and are the cause of their being deprived of their 
Christlike characteristics, will suffer an awful penalty in 
eternity, and it is better to suffer the worst earthly penalty 
than to do anything which will incur a more awful doom 
in eternity.— B. ( See on Lk. 9 :48.) 



PASSAGES 47 

Mt. 18:7 — "Woe unto the world because of 
offenses." 

"Woe unto the world." Nothing is more evil in fact 
than being the occasion of evil to those that are Christ's. 
There are none more to be feared than these. — Booth. "It 
must needs be." Offenses are part of the "must needs be" 
of a Christian life, permitted by our heavenly Father that 
He may test, teach, purify and prepare us for His heaven- 
ly kingdom. These are a part of the "all things which 
work together for good." Though God thus uses the 
"wrath of mlan to praise Him," He is still righteous in 
holding to accountability the offending party. — Palmer. 

Mt. 18:7-9 — "If thy hand or thy foot offend 
thee, cut them off." 

See on Mt. 5 :29-30. 

You may take the hand and eye and foot as symbolical 
of what belongs closely and intimately to our being and 
nature, our habits, affections, dispositions, tendencies. 
These offend us, harm and obstruct growth and mar the 
beauty of the spiritual life. What is the prevention? 
"Cut them off." It must be no momentary self chastise- 
ment or penance, no mere determination to try to re- 
press. We must adopt no half measure whatever. We 
must by the power of the Holy Spirit cast them out. — 
Hooke. If the thing hurts your religious life, off with it. 
He is a fool who insists on keeping a mortified limb which 
kills him. It is no use to try to regulate and moderate. 
Safety lies only in entire abstinence. — Maclaren. 

Mt. 18:10 — "little ones ... in heaven 
their angels do always behold the face of my 
Father which is in heaven." 

"In heaven their angels." Their servants (Heb. 1 :14). 
The tradition of so-called guardian angels has no founda- 
tion in this text. — Comp. Bible. Children are the constant 
objects of God's regard. Whatever the mysteries con- 



48 PERPLEXING 

nected with the subject, this must appear plain. What 
happens to the "little ones" is of immediate interest to 
the Father. — Horn. Com. Enough to know that to the 
good angels as heavenly servants is committed the care of 
the heirs of salvation. — Fraser. 

Mt. 18:17 — "Let him be unto thee as an 
heathen man." 

Social intercourse with the sinner while he is deliber- 
ately unrepentant is forbidden. — Dummelow. 

Mt. 18:18 — "Whatsoever ye shall bind on 
earth." 

See on 16:19 and Jn. 20:23. 

Mt. 18:19 — "If two of you shall agree on earth 
as touching anything that they shall ask, it 
shall be done ..." 

The key word is "agree" (lit. "symphonize"). The 
word itself is a whole revelation. Symphony is not an 
arbitrary or accidental agreement; it obeys the law of the 
chord. No symphony can be produced between notes 
which are not in harmony. The symphony of believing sup- 
pliants is not any mere arranged agreement, unless that 
agreement is itself the result of the Holy Spirit's work in 
bringing disciples into accord with Himself, and so with 
each other. We are to conceive the entire body of dis- 
ciples as the keyboard of a vast instrument, and the Holy 
Spirit as the divine musician laying His artist hand on 
two or more keys, tuned to the proper pitch and prepared 
to sound a perfect chord. We cannot agree as touching 
what we ask except so far as we first agree with Him so 
that our prayer is the expression of His will. When the 
secrets of many hearts are revealed, we shall find that pray- 
ing souls far separated and often unknown to each other, 
have been led of the Spirit to pray for like things at the 
same time, and with a degree of accord which can be ex- 
plained only by His holy moving. — Pierson. 



PASSAGES 49 

Mt. 18:34 — "delivered to the tormentors till he 
should pay all ... So likewise shall my 
heavenly Father do also unto you if ye 
forgive not . . . " 

The parable illustrates God's dealings with Christians, 
not with the world. Inasmuch as God has forgiven us the 
great and unpayable debt, we must also forgive our breth- 
ren the comparatively trifling debts which they have in- 
curred by sinning against us (Eph. 4:32); — Dummelow. 
"Forgive everyone." The very foundations of the kingdom 
of heaven are laid in the preaching of repentance and for- 
giveness of sins in the name of Jesus Christ (Lk. 24:47; 
Acts 20:21). Everyone who enters, enters as a for- 
given sinner whom his Lord has forgiven a crushing debt. 
When one refuses to forgive a fellow believer, he denies 
the very essence of the kingdom of heaven and violates 
its fundamental principle. The lesson of the parable is 
for those whose sins have been forgiven. The basis of 
the command that we forgive one another is God's hav- 
ing first forgiven us (Acts 13:39; Eph. 1:7). — Mauro. 
Life that ever needs forgiveness has for its first duty to 
forgive. — Lytton. 

Mt. 19:7-8 — "Moses because of the hardness of 
your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: 
but from the beginning it was not so." 

"Moses commanded, etc." (Deut. 24 :l-4) but not till the 
close of the forty years. He allowed them to put away 
their wives, having regard to their hard hearts, but it was 
not so from the first constitution down to Moses. — Bul- 
linger. The specific lesson is that in course of time, by 
gradual and sometimes rapid changes, corruptions creep 
in, so that God's original order becomes obscured and per- 
verted, and we learn to accept even a totally different set 
of customs and even of notions, from those which were 
at first held sacred. — Pierson. 



50 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 19:9 — "Whosoever shall put away his wife." 

SeeonMk. 10:11-12. 

Mt. 19:10-12 — "All men cannot receive this 
saying . . . For there are some eunuchs 
he that is able to receive it, let him re- 
ceive it." 

v. 10. "If the case of the man be so with his wife" — 
lit. — "If these are the conditions of marriage, it is not 
good to marry." Even the disciples thought such a prin- 
ciple as just stated by Christ, would make the yoke of 
marriage unbearable. — Camb. Bible. 

v. 11. "All men cannot receive this saying." — It is as 
if the Savior had said, "True, so far: it is expedient in 
some respects, not to marry. But then, that would be but 
one side of the case. It is by no means all men who could 
easily or wisely receive this saying as the rule of their 
life." — Morison. Who are those "to whom it is given"? 
the disciples would naturally ask; and this our Lord pro- 
ceeds to tell them in three particulars. — Brown. 

v. 12. Eunuchs. The Savior distinguishes three kinds 
of eunuchism. 1. Congenital, which implies neither merit 
nor guilt. 2. Forced, which implies misfortune on the one 
hand and guilt on the other. 3. Voluntary, which has 
moral value and merit if it proceeds from faith and love 
to Christ, but no merit superior to chastity in the married 
state. The first and third are only improperly called 
eunuchs. The first class embraces the comparatively small 
number who are constitutionally either incapable of, or 
averse to, marriage. The second class, the eunuchs 
proper, or mutilated persons, who at that timje were quite 
numerous, especially at courts, and are still found in east- 
ern countries among heathen and Mohammedans. The 
third class, those who deliberately abstain from marriage 
either altogether, or from second marriage after the death 
of their first husband or wife, not, however, for the pur- 
pose of thereby gaining heaven, but for the purpose of 



PASSAGES 51 

working for Christ, believing that they can serve Him 
more unreservedly and effectually in the single state. To 
this class belong Paul (1 Cor. 7:7, 26), Barnabas (1 Cor. 
9:5-6), probably also John. From a grossly literal mis- 
understanding of v. 12 it is recorded that Origen, in the 
youthful ardour of enthusiasm for Christ, and misguided 
by the ascetic notions of his age, committed the unnatural 
deed which forever disqualified him for marriage. But 
this was justly condemned in the ancient church and was 
made a reason for his excommunication from the church 
of Alexandria. — Schaff. 

Mt. 19:17 — "Why callest thou me good? There 
is none good but one, that is God." 

Jesus did not for a moment mean to imply that He was 
not good (Jn. 8:46; 14:20; 8:29), but He saw that the 
young man had no deep sense of the full force of his own 
words. To say He was good was to say He was God, for 
no man is good (Mk. 10:18), and that Jesus was God the 
young man did not see. — Torrey. By "good" the man 
meant no more than that he sought instruction from a 
teacher of great reputation. — Plummer. Jesus is either 
repudiating the notion of His own sinlessness or claiming 
to be filled with God. Either He is God manifest in the 
flesh, or He is not good. — Maclaren. Jesus had one ob- 
ject — to raise the youth's idea of Himself as not to be 
classed merely with other good teachers, and declining to 
recognize the title apart from the One who is essentially 
and only good. — J. F. & B. When one calls Christ good, 
He would have him mean thereby that he looked upon 
Him to be God, for if He was not what He claimed, He 
could not be good. — Henry. 

Mt. 19:23 — "A rich man shall hardly enter into 
the kingdom of heaven." 

Few men are both rich and humble before God. — Man- 
ning. Worldly wealth is the devil's bait. — Burton. Riches 



52 PERPLEXING 

may be taken into possession but not into the affections. — 
Charron. Riches are the prettiest and least worthy gifts 
which God can give a man. What are they to God's Word ? 
— Luther. 

Mt. 19:24 — "easier for a camel to go through 
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter 
into the kingdom of God." 

It has been suggested that "needle's eye" was an ex- 
pression in common use for a narrow gate into a city, in- 
tended for foot passengers only. However, the object of 
Jesus' statement is to stamp on the mind the idea of ex- 
treme difficulty. — Fraser. 

Mt. 19:28 — "Ye which have followed me in the 
regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in 
the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon 
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel." 

"In the regeneration." The "renewal of things," other- 
wise called "the restitution of all things." — Camb. Bible. 
There is to be a new birth for mankind as well as for the 
individual when Christ returns in glory. "Shall sit on 
twelve thrones." What approximations to literal fulfill- 
ment there may be in the future, lies behind the veil. In 
at least one point they will fail of literal fulfillment. The 
guilt of Judas left one throne vacant. The promise was 
given subject to the implied conditions. — Plumptre. The 
passage discloses how the promise (Isa. 1 :26) will be ful- 
filled when the kingdom is set up. The kingdom will be 
administered over Israel through the twelve apostles ac- 
cording to the ancient theocratic judgeship (Jud. 2:18). — 
Scofield Bible. 

Mt. 20:9-12 — "These last have wrought but one 
hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us 
which have borne the heat and burden of the 
day." 

The passage does not teach (a) that he who enters at 



PASSAGES 53 

the eleventh hour will get as much as if he entered the 
first hour (1 Cor. 3:8; Lk. 19:11-27), (b) that those who 
bear the heat of the day will get no more than those who 
work one cool evening (2 Tim. 2:12; 2 Cor. 4:17). It 
does teach that one hour's service in the spirit of humble 
trust will be as abundantly rewarded as twelve hours' 
legal service seeking reward as a matter of debt. — Pier- 
son. The parable is intended to show us the difference 
between the reward given to work which in quantity may 
be very great, but in motive is mercenary, and the reward 
given to work which in quantity may be small, but in mo- 
tive sound. Those who were hired early in the day struck 
an agreement to work for a stipulated sum (the usual 
day's wage of that period). These men were in a condi- 
tion to make their own terms. They ruled in the market. 
In the evening the masters have it all their own way and 
they say, "Whatsoever is right that shall ye receive." In 
no condition to make a bargain, they gladly trust them- 
selves to one whose words have the ring of truth. Those 
who wrought merely for the sake of pay received the pay 
they looked for. Those who came leaving themselves con- 
fidently in the hands of a master they believed in, were 
gladdened by the unmerited reward. — Dods. 

Mt. 20:16 — "So the last shall be first and the 
first last." 

The meaning of this interpreting utterance is that in 
God's kingdom of the future there is a manifold diverse 
reward for service of diverse worth in this life. The fu- 
ture rewards of grace, instead of being adjudged to each 
according to the difference in the outward amount of ser- 
vice, obvious to human eyes and open to human calcula- 
tion, will rather be judged according to the difference in 
the inner worth of the service known only to God — ac- 
cording to the different degree of self-sacrificing fidelity 
with which everyone has labored in the f unction assigned 
to him, whether small or great. — Goebel. 



54 PERPLEXING 

Mt. 20:20-23 — "Ye know not what ye ask. Are 
ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? 
Ye shall drink indeed . . . but 
to sit on my right hand, and on my left is not 
mine to give." 

"Grant my two sons." It is always our peril that we 
hunger for place more than for character. They wanted 
to be kings' cupbearers. He offers them to drink of His 
cup. They call for sovereignty, He asks for sacrifice. — 
Jowett. "In thy kingdom." She was probably expecting, 
like many others, that the Lord was about to establish His 
earthly kingdom. — Morison. 

v. 22. "Are ye able ?" There was a condition of shar- 
ing Christ's glory with Him of which His petitioners had 
little dreamed. We must be sharers of Christ's suffering 
if we would be sharers of His glory (2 Tim. 2:12; Rom. 
8:17).— Tor rey. 

v. 23. "Ye shall drink." They did drink. James was 
the first apostle who was honored (Acts 12:1, 2). John, 
after going through all the persecution of the infant 
church, lived to be the victim after all the rest had got to 
glory. — J. F. & B. "For whom it is prepared." Those 
are prepared who are made "conformable unto His death." 
Fellowship in His sufferings is the qualification of shar- 
ing His dignity. — Sel. 

Mt. 21:4-5 — "All this was done that it might 
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, 
saying, "Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold 
thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting 
upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." 

"Thy King cometh." Jesus, the King-Saviour, was of- 
ficially offered to Israel first. He was acclaimed by an 
unthinking multitude, but was soon rejected by official 
representatives of the nation. Nevertheless, His rejec- 
tion by His own turned to the riches of the Gentiles. — 
Sumi Bible. When it pleases Christ to come and take His 
earthly kingdom, He will avow Himself King in the midst 



PASSAGES 55 

of His enemies. He will show Himself so evidently as 
He may be taken notice of by His enemies. — Dickson. 
That He was King of the Jews there is no question, but 
we must bear in mind the Lord's words to His disciples 
that the time of restoring the Davidic kingdom to Israel 
was a thing not for them to know, seeing that the Father 
had placed it in His own hands (Acts 1 :7). That word 
alone overthrows the idea that the earthly kingdom was 
due at Christ's first coming. — Mauro. Long before this 
it had pleased God to show something of this — even the 
good news of being "visited" by her King, something also 
of the singularly unassuming character of that visit and 
the lowliness of equipage by which that visit of royalty 
would be marked. Just so exactly had the Lord Jesus 
always meant to enter Jerusalem at this time. — Horn. 
Com. As the Saviour began so He went on, advancing 
so far, but not at this time any farther, asserting His 
kingly rights but not yet acting upon them. The time for 
that was not yet. What He claimed then is what He 
wields now — the kingdom only of grace. He asks our 
submission but does not force it. He claims our obe- 
dience but does not compel it. — Booth. "Meek, sitting 
upon an ass." He was born King, yet the wise men in 
Matthew 2 did not find their King in circumstances of 
power and display. Neither does He appear now in pur- 
ple, notwithstanding the explicitness of all that He does. — 
Lewis. If He had entered the city in regal pomp and 
splendor, it would have conveyed an entirely false idea of 
the kingdom that was then at hand. His manner of com- 
ing strikingly suggested the kingdom of lowliness. He 
had just taught His disciples that He had come to give 
His life a ransom, not to be ministered unto. Thus He 
shows in the most impressive way that the kingdom He 
was about to establish was not of this world. There was 
no rivalry with Caesar, yet He was more of a king than 
any Caesar. — Gibson. 



56 PERPLEXING 



Mt. 21:9 — "Hosanna in the highest." 

Means "Save now." (Ps. 118:25.) Thus one day His 
church and probably the literal Israel of the future, will 
hail Him with transports of joy. (See Zech. 2:10.) — 
Meyer. 

Mt. 21:19 — "He saw a fig tree . . . found 
nothing thereon but leaves . . . said unto 
it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward 
forever . . . presently the fig tree with- 
ered away." 

Men have found fault with our Lord for smiting this 
tree with barrenness. Yet what teacher would not root 
up a plant, if he desired to teach his pupils some lesson 
which could be best taught in that manner ! Surely Jesus 
was perfectly justified in making that fig tree the symbol 
of the judgment that must overtake all who profess but 
do not possess. Beware lest He seek fruit of thee in 
vain. — Devo. Com. (See on Mk. 11 :13.) 

Mt. 21:28-31 — . . . "Verily I say unto 
you, that the Publicans and harlots go into the 
kingdom of God before you." 

The parable of the two sons teaches that hard hearts 
may lie under fair words, while those of whom we expect 
least and whose first greeting is abrupt and disappointing, 
may later prove to be the most devoted and hopeful dis- 
ciples. If a man repels the Gospel with violence, he is 
more likely ultimately to be won than he who gives a 
polite and facile assent. — Meyer. 

Mt. 21:42 — "The stone which the builders re- 
jected, the same is become the head of the cor- 
ner; This is the Lord's doing." 

This verse commemorates a real transaction in the 
building of Solomon's temple. A certain stone designed 
for the head corner stone was rejected by the builders and 
cast away as useless, but as no other stone could supply 



PASSAGES 57 

the place, either by necessity or divine warning, the once 
despised stone was sought out and exalted to the position 
for which it had been destined by the divine architect. 
This event to which there are many allusions in the Scrip- 
tures is used by the prophets and apostles as typifying the 
treatment of the Messiah by the Jews at His first and 
second advents. — Baron. 

Mt. 21:44 — "Whosoever shall fall on this stone 
shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall 
fali, it will grind him to powder." 

Probably these words refer to the two stages in the 
execution of capital penalty by stoning. Criminals con- 
demned to this death, had their hands bound, and were led 
outside the gates to some small eminence where a large 
stone was laid at the bottom. They were stripped and 
given a stupefying draught. The criminal was set on the 
edge of the precipice and pushed backward so as to fall 
on the stone below and be broken. If not killed by the 
fall, one threw a large stone so as to have it fall on the 
victim's breast and then bystanders completed the tragedy. 
— Pierson. 

Mt. 22:1-13, (v. 11) — "a man which had not 
on a wedding garment." (v. 12) — "He was 
speechless." 

The invitation to the wedding represents the Gospel, and 
the supper, the blessings whereof sinners are invited by 
the Gospel to partake. — Mauro. 

v. 3. "Sent forth servants." The invitation to the 
marriage feast, first extended to Israel (v. 7), was greeted 
with violence, and the King fulfilled the latter part of the 
verse in A. D. 70. The world-wide call then went forth 
(Matt. 28:16-20, see v. 9) "to as many as would receive" 
(Jn. 1:12).— Sum. Bible. 

v. 7. "Burned their city." We learn here the solemn 
lesson that though there is much diversity in the degrees 



58 PERPLEXING 

of aggravation with which men accompany their rejection 
of the Savior, all who do not receive Him perish in the 
same condemnation. — Arnot. 

v. 10. "Both bad and good." Without making any 
distinction between open sinners and the morally correct. 
The Gospel call fetched in Jews, Samaritans, and outlying 
heathen alike. — Faucett. 

v. 11. "Had not a garment." Such language could 
not be strange to those in whose ears had so long re- 
sounded those words of prophetic joy, "My soul shall be 
joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the gar- 
ment of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of 
righteousness as a bridegroom decketh himself with orna- 
ments." (Is. 61 :10.) — J. F. & B. The question naturally 
arises — In so mixed an assembly would every man pre- 
sent be of the right sort? Would there be none there to 
bring discredit on him who had invited them there? The 
wedding garment represents newness of life. For the 
professed disciple not to put on this garment (Col. 3:10, 
12) is indeed to trifle with God. For the absence of this 
no excuse can be offered, for the apparel is previously of- 
fered each man by his host. — Lewis. 

v. 12. "Not having garment." We have abundant evi- 
dence that kings were provided with extensive wardrobes 
from which each invited guest was furnished with a suit- 
able garment. — Schaff. "He was speechless." The man 
who came without a wedding garment endorsed substan- 
tially the act of those who had proudly refused to comply 
with the invitation. It was the same heart disobedience 
accompanied by hypocrisy that would fain commit the sin 
yet escape the consequences. On both sides it is silently 
assumed that the guest might have had the wedding gar- 
ment on. The condemned guest is therefore speechless 
when he hears his doom. — Horn. Com. 

Mt. 22:21 — "Render unto Caesar the things 
which are Caesar's; and unto God the things 
which are God's." 

SeeonMk. 12:17. 



PASSAGES 59 

Mt. 22:30 — "In the resurrection, they neither 
marry nor are given in marriage." 

Even the holiest of earthly relations is but for this 
present life. The earthly family is but the blessed anti- 
type of the family of God, which is being gathered out of 
all nations. Yes, there have already been myriads of fam- 
ily reunions in heaven and there will be myriads more, 
but the mpst beatific and joyful reunion will be that when 
the saints sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb.- — 
Huyser. (See on Mk. 12:25.) 

Mt. 22:32 — "God is not the God of the dead 
but of the living." 

See v. 23. God is not the God of the dead, i. e., of men 
who have altogether perished, but of the living, i. e., of 
those who have immortal souls, and though their bodies 
are now dead, they will rise again. — Dummelow. (See 
Mk. 12:27.) 

Mt. 22:36-40 — "Which is the great command- 
ment in the law?" 

The difficulty of the question lay in the extreme width 
of its scope. Who can take it all in at one time? It is 
like asking one offhand to point out the most important 
star in the midnight sky. If he is looking to the north he 
is turning his back on the south. By the pious Israelite 
the laws were all regarded as having the same supreme 
majesty behind them. The very attempt of one to put 
his finger on that which is greatest of all involves peril 
of the direst possible kind. — Horn. Com. The Scribes di- 
vided them; all up — 248 affirmative ones (the number of 
the members of the body) ; 365 negative ones (number 
of days in the year). Two hundred and forty-eight plus 
365 is 613 (number of letters in the decalogue). — Comp. 
Bible. 

v. 39. "The second is like unto it." The passages 
quoted lie far apart — one in Deut. 6, the other in Lev. 



6Q PERPLEXING 

19 in an obscure corner. Nowhere are they spoken of as 
the first and second commandments nor were they re- 
garded as commandments in the understood sense of the 
word. His answer was a miracle of genius, a flash of in- 
spiration. In bringing them together He furnishes a sum- 
mary of the law and the prophets. That one short an- 
swer to a sudden question is of more value in morals than 
all the writings of the ethical philosophers. — Exp. Bible. 

v. 40. "Hang all." Christ seizes upon and emphasizes 
the permanent element in religion. The inner pith of re- 
ligion can never be elsewhere than where He has put it, 
in love to God and love to man. To give God the supreme 
devotion of our hearts and merge our wills in His, to let 
our affection go out towards Him, this penetrates into the 
deepest deep of our being and embraces the widest reaches 
of our thought and activity. — Sel. 

Mt. 22:42-45 — "If David call him Lord, how i* 
he his son?" 

Messiah is at once inferior to David as his son accord- 
ing to the flesh, and superior to him as the Lord of a king- 
dom of which David is himself a subject, not the sover- 
eign. The human and divine natures of Christ, and the 
spirituality of His kingdom — of which the highest earthly 
sovereigns are honored if they be counted worthy to be its 
subjects — furnish the key to this puzzle. — Jamieson. 

(See on Lk. 20:42-44.) 

Mt. 23:2 — "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in 
Moses' seat." 

"The scribes and Pharisees have usurped the place of 
Moses." — Fenton. 

Mt. 23:5- — "make broad their phylacteries and 
enlarge the borders of their garments." 

"Phylacteries" — passages of Scripture enclosed in a 



PASSAGES 61 

small case, bound upon the arm or forehead. — Smith. 
"Borders of their garments" — fringes of their upper gar- 
ments — Num. 15 :37-40. — Wilkinson. 

Mt. 23:8 — "Be not ye called Rabbi." 

The Pharisees had a great desire for recognition in the 
market-places and to be called by titles of dignity, "Rabbi" 
(which is equivalent to Doctor of Divinity). There is 
but one person whom the disciple of Christ has as an 
authoritative teacher, and that is Christ. All disciples of 
Christ, from the most learned to the most illiterate, are 
brethren and no one has a right to claim doctrinal 
authority over another. — Torrey. 

Mt. 23:9 — "Call no man your father upon the 
earth; for one is your Father which is in 
heaven." 

We must recognize no one upon earth as the father of 
our faith or as having a doctrinal authority over us in the 
faith. There is but one such Father. — Torrey. 

Mt. 23:10 — "Neither be ye called masters." 

Neither be ye called leaders, because your leader is 
Christ. — Scofield Bible. The word is not the same as in 
v. 8. It signifies guide or director of conscience, rather 
than a teacher. — Plumptre. 

Mt. 23:16-22 — "Ye say . . . Whosoever 
shall swear by the temple, it is nothing but who- 
soever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he 
is a debtor, etc." 

The exact meaning of this expression is uncertain, but 
the probability is that it refers to money offered as a gift 
to God, to which the Scribes and Pharisees ascribed pe- 
culiar sanctity. — Mansel. Corrupt churchmen make things 
to be sin or no sin, as it serves their purpose ; as here they 
make an oath by the temple to be none and an oath by the 



62 PERPLEXING 

gold of the temple to oblige. — Dickson. The principle in- 
volved in our Lord's teaching goes farther than its im- 
mediate application and sweeps away the arbitrary dis- 
tinction of different degrees of sanctity in the several parts 
of the same structure. — Plumptre. 

v. 18. "He is guilty"— lit. "He is bound by the oath." 
— Weymouth. 

Mt. 23:23 — "Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and 
cummin and have omitted the weightier mat- 
ters." 

The language of Deut. 12:17 seems to recognize only 
corn, wine and oil among the produce of the earth, as 
subject to the law of tithes. The Pharisee, in his minute 
scrupulosity, made a point of gathering the tenth sprig of 
every garden herb and presenting it to the priest. So far 
as this was done at the bidding of an imperfectly enlight- 
ened conscience, the Lord would not blame it. What He 
did censure was the substitution of the lower for the 
higher. — Plumptre. Mint was grown for its pleasant 
odor ; anise, or dill, and cummin for their aromatic flavor. 
These were cultivated not for food, but for scents and 
relishes. — Fraser. 

Mt. 23:24 — "strain at a gnat and swallow a 
camel." 

This is a most effective illustration of a scrupulousness 
which is extreme and inconsistent. We are supposed to 
look at one drinking from an open vessel. A small fly 
has got into the water. He who would drink notices the 
small insect and passes the water through a fine cloth in 
order to strain it out. With gross inconsistency, however, 
he takes no notice of a far greater object but gulps down 
the camel. The mention of this unwieldy creature is of 
course an instance of hyperbole, as in the other metaphor 
of a camel going through the eye of a needle. Some were 
extremely scrupulous in small things and extremely un- 
scrupulous in great matters. — Fraser. 



PASSAGES 63 

Mt. 24:15 — "abomination of desolation spoken 
of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy 
place." 

This points to the crisis at the end of the present age. 
The abomination of desolation (Dan. 9:27) which is the 
image of "the man of sin" (2 Thess. 2 :3-8) and the 
"beast" (Rev. 13:4-7) will then be set up in the temple 
of restored Jerusalem, and the hour of the Great Tribu- 
lation will have come. — Gray. 

Mt. 24:13 — "He that shall endure unto the end 
shall be saved." 

(SeeonMk. 13:13.) 

Mt. 24:16 — "Then let them which be in Judea 
flee into the mountains." 

Lk. 21 :20-24 refers in express terms to a destruction 
of Jerusalem which was fulfilled by Titus, A. D. 70. (Note 
it takes place prior to the dispersion of the Jews among 
the nations and the present Gentile age.) The passage in 
Matthew refers to the future crisis in Jerusalem after the 
manifestation of the "abomination of desolation" (and 
just prior to Christ's second coming). In the former 
case, Jerusalem was destroyed. In the latter, it will be 
delivered by divine interposition. — Scofield. 

Mt. 24:20 — "Pray that your flight be not in win- 
ter; neither on the Sabbath day." 

In winter, when swollen streams, cold and long nights 
would increase the misery of the fugitives. On the Sab- 
bath day, when religious scruples of the Jews would de- 
lay their flight. (The extent of a Sabbath day's journey 
for a Jew is 2000 cubits.)— Camb. Bible. 

Mt. 24:21 — "great tribulation, such as was not 
since the beginning of the world . . . no, 
nor ever shall be." 

A period of seven years, the last week of the great 



64 PERPLEXING 

prophecy of Daniel (9). — Gaebelein. In Dan. 9:24-27, 
seventy weeks (lit. seventy sevens) are decreed upon the 
people of Israel and upon the holy city, and to make recon- 
cilliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteous- 
ness, and to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the 
most holy. From the going forth of the commandment to 
restore and build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, shall be 
seven weeks and three score and two weeks — 69 sevens. 
To what point in the history of Jesus do these 69 sevens 
take us ? We are told in v. 20 that after the second period 
(three score and two weeks) shall Messiah be cut off. The 
seven and the 62 sevens take us to the Messiah's death. 
The seventy sevens are 490 years and the 69 sevens are 
483 years. The reckoning was to begin at the going forth 
of a commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. 
Neh. 2 :5-8 gives us in explicit terms an authorization to 
Ezra to build the city of his father's sepulchres. To apply 
these results we first enquire what those 483 years are. 
Are they in every respect like the years of our calendar? 
The Hebrew month consisted of 30 days; the year, 360. 
To find the entire number of days, we divide by 365^4 and 
so change them to calendar years. 483 prophetic years are 
found to be equivalent to 476 years of our chronology. 
The concession to Ezra was issued in 446 B. C. Applying 
476 years to this point, brings us to Christ's birth and 
leaves 30 years over ; that is, the year 30 A. D. is specified 
as that of the Saviour's cutting off in His crucifixion. But 
we are told in Lk. 3 :23 that Jesus entered upon His min- 
istry at 30 years of age. But Scripture is accurate. When 
the division between time B. C. and time A. D. was made 
in the sixth century, a mistake of four years was made. 
The year 30 would be really 34 A. D. The sacrifice was 
thus offered at the appointed time. The seventieth week 
of years awaits fulfillment when Jewish time is again be- 
gun after the completion of the church. It will be fulfilled 
in awful tribulation, after which Christ will appear as the 
"smiting stone" of Daniel's prophecy. — Anderson. 



PASSAGES 65 

Mt. 24:26 — "If they shall say . . . Be- 
hold, He is in the desert, go not forth; Behold, 
He is in secret chambers, believe it not." 

Spiritualists claim to have seen Christ in closed rooms 
— one modern sect recently claimed that they had Christ 
in the Mojave desert and that He would soon manifest 
Himself. — B. Jesus teaches that His coming would be 
as unexpected as a flash of lightning. Seducers say, "Lo, 
here is Christ to deliver us" — or "There is Christ," a 
creature of their own fancies. Ere they are aware, the 
wrath of the Lamb, the true Christ, will arrest them, and 
they shall not escape. — Henry. 

Mt. 24:28 — "Wheresoever the carcase is, there 
will the eagles be gathered together." 

As the carcass everywhere attracts the carrion-eaters, 
so do moral corruption and ripened guilt everywhere de- 
mand the judgment. — Lange. Inevitable, swift, unerring 
as the vulture's descent on the carcass, is the judgment of 
the Son of man on corrupted communities and corrupted 
men. Wherever there is entire moral corruption (as 
there will be during the Great Tribulation), there is final 
punishment. It is necessary that the vultures should de- 
vour the carcass, lest it pollute the air and breed a pesti- 
lence. It is necessary that corrupted nations should be 
blotted out, lest they delay the whole progress of mankind. 
— Brooke. 

Mt. 24:32-34 — "Now learn a parable of the fig 
tree . . . this generation shall not pass 
until all these things be fulfilled." 

Israel (fig tree in Scripture a familiar symbol of Is- 
rael) will then (just prior to the time of the Lord's com- 
ing) be like a budding fig tree; the glorious summer after 
earth's long winter will now be close at hand. — Torrey. 
"This generation shall not pass till" — The word "genera- 
tion" comes from the Greek word "genea." The primary 
definition of the word is race, kind, family, stock. Jesus 
says that the race of Israel would not pass away as a fam- 
ily or race till the things which He spoke were fulfilled. 



66 PERPLEXING 

The race of Israel has not passed away, and all of the 
things which the Lord said would happen before that race 
should pass away have not yet been fulfilled. — Keller. 
Another view is, that the Lord's meaning is that these 
events will all be fulfilled within the limits of a genera- 
tion, i. e., by "this generation" He means the generation 
that sees the beginning of "these things" shall see them 
all fulfilled. For the elect's sake those days shall be short- 
ened (v. 22). He is looking forward and speaks in the 
present tense. — Robinson. 

Mt. 24:35 — "Heaven and earth shall pass away." 

The Scriptures distinguish three heavens : first, the 
lower heavens or the region of the clouds; secondly, the 
second or planetary heavens; thirdly, the heaven of 
heavens, the abode of God. — Scofield Bible. The refer- 
ence here is to atmospheric heavens about this earth. — B. 

Mt. 24:40-41 — "Then shall two be in the field; 
the one shall be taken and the other left 

two women grinding at the mill 

»» 

One shall be taken for blessing at His coming, the other 
shall be left for judgment (13:30). — B. Those most in- 
timately associated with one another will be separated in 
the day of His coming. — Torrey. 

Mt. 24:42 — "Ye know not what hour your 
Lord doth come." 

Our proper attitude toward the return of our Lord is 
to be always watching. An especial blessing is pronounced 
upon those servants whom the Lord finds watching when 
He comes (Lk. 12:37). If He should come today, would 
you have part in that blessing? We should always be 
alert that that day should not overtake us as a thief (1 
Thess. 5 :4). The way to be ready is set forth in the next 
verses (faithful and wise servant). — Torrey. 

Mt. 24:47 — "He shall make him ruler over all 
his goods." 

Meaning that he will be elevated to the highest dignity. 



PASSAGES & 

— Lange. The allusion is to the way of great men, who, 
if the stewards of their house conduct themselves well in 
that place, commonly prefer them to be the managers of 
their estates (Gen. 39:4-6). What is here said by a sim- 
ilitude is said more plainly in Jn. 12:26 — "Him will my 
Father honor." — Henry. 

Mt. 25:1-13 — "kingdom of heaven likened unto 
ten virgins." 

v. 1. "Kingdom of heaven." The parable describes 
Christendom and what will take place at the close of this 
age. — Gaebelein. "Ten virgins." In this parable the 
church is not viewed so much in her position as the bride 
of Christ but as virgins waiting for His return (Lk. 12: 
36), teaching that our attitude toward His return should 
be expectant and longing (Tit. 2:13; 2 Tim. 4:8; 2 Pet. 
3:12, 13).— Torrey. 

v. 2. "Five were wise." The wise virgins are the true 
believers, the oil symbolizing the indwelling with the Holy 
Spirit (Rom. 8:9). The foolish are the mere professors 
as is evident from the words "I know you not" (v. 12), 
and "took no oil" (v. 3). The parable sets before us that 
testing of Christian profession which the coming of the 
Lord will reveal. — Gray. It is not a distinction between 
the perfect and the imperfect, for they were all imper- 
fect as all of us are. They all slept. The body overcame 
them all. There are those who seem to live, yet they are 
dead. A man may carry a lamp and be foolish. He may 
taste the heavenly gift and yet be a foolish man. The five 
foolish liked to be with the wise. You may like to be with 
Christians, and by and by you may go out from them be- 
cause you are not of them. — Fullerton. 

v. 3. "Took lamps." In a sense they were looking for 
the bridegroom but not with true intensity. They were 
not equipped for long and patient expectation. It is a 
rebuke to shallow religion that dies away when the excite- 
ment passes. — Camb. Bible. "Took no oil." There is the 
outward profession but no inward reality, no spiritual 
life, no unction, no vital link with the source of eternal 



68 PERPLEXING 

life, no union with Christ — nothing but the lamp of pro- 
fession and the dry wick of a nominal head belief. — Mc- 
intosh. 

v. 5. "Slumbered and slept." Literally "became 
drowsy." The word for "slumbered" is used only here 
and in 2 Pet. 2 :3. — Comp. Bible. Five were watching in 
a way that was wise and sensible and five in a way that 
was not. Where did the difference lie? We can say, on 
the one hand, where it did not. It did not turn on the 
question of sleep for they all slept. Watching does not 
necessarily mean being always on the stretch, having the 
attention fixed consciously on that which is looked for. 
What was required was the power of getting ready the 
moment the necessity for it arose. The foolish, not hav- 
ing oil, were unable to get ready. This was being un- 
watchful or unpreparable, if we may use such a word. — 
Booth. This seems to mean no more than that all, having 
made such preparation as they judged sufficient, calmly 
and securely waited the approach of the bridegroom. But 
the security which is excusable and the repose which is 
necessary to one condition is in another utter madness. 
Learn from the slumber of the wise as well as the rash 
sleep of the foolish. There is a kind of sleep in which 
the sense of hearing at least is on the alert and this sense 
takes note only of the one sound it waits for so that the 
sound of a watched-for foot-step arouses to the keenest 
watchfulness, but there is a something terrible in the 
false security of the foolish, maintained up to the last. — 
Dods. 

v. 6. "At midnight." The midnight cry is arousing en- 
tire Christendom again. In the first half of the nine- 
teenth century the Spirit of God revived the blessed hope 
and still the cry is heard louder and louder. The next 
is — "He comes." — Anno. Bible. "Behold, the bride- 
groom." What means this cry? It means that the indi- 
cations of the approach of the second advent have be- 
come so striking and so numerous that they cannot possi- 
bly be mistaken. — Calthrop. 






PASSAGES 69 

v. 7. "All arose." Both foolish and wise are described 
as arising and trimming their lamps when the message 
falls on their ears. Watching wisely therefore, we may 
say, does not mean openly professing to watch at all 
seasons and times. — Preacher's Com. 

v. 8. "Give us oil." A man can give light but he can- 
not give oil. This is the gift of God alone. No one can 
by any means redeem his brother nor give God a ransom 
for him that he should live forever (Ps. 49:7-9). — Mc- 
intosh. None but the most infatuated could have said to 
their fellows, "Give us of your oil." No one who seeks 
it has truly tasted it as yet. — Horn. Com. "Lamps are 
going out." The difference was not outwardly manifest 
until the lamps of the foolish began to go out. Many a 
lamp today has a wick but no oil. The foolish seem to 
have had some oil but not supplies to last. They had oil 
in their lamps but none in their vessels. One can know 
a measure of the Spirit's power and yet be lost at last 
(Heb. 6:4-6). The one who is truly born again will have 
an abiding supply (1 Jno. 3:9). — Sel. 

v. 9. "Not so." There is no room in the Bible for 
application to others of the merits of the saints (Rom. 14: 
12; Ps. 49:7-9; Jer. 15:1; 1 Pet. 4:18). No one can 
have any more grace than he needs for himself. It is of 
Christ Himself that oil must be procured (Rev. 3:18; 
Is. 55:1), and the Holy Spirit is to be obtained for the 
mere asking (Lk. 11:13). — Torrey. 

Mt. 25:18 — "He that received one, went and 
digged in the earth and hid his lord's money." 

"He that received one." Those entrusted with the 
least number of talents need to beware. They are most 
exposed to the temptation of saying, "I can do so little 
I will do nothing." — Devo. Com. 

Mt. 25:24 — "I knew thee that thou art an hard 
man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and 
gathering where thou hast not strawed." 

"I knew thou wast one whom it was impossible to 



70 PERPLEXING 

serve, one whom nothing would please, exacting what was 
impracticable and dissatisfied with what was attainable." 
— Brown. "Hast not strawed." "Gathering into the 
garner from another's threshing floor where thou hast 
not winnowed." — Meyer. 

Mt. 25:27 — "ought to have put my money to 
the exchangers." 

"Put money to exchangers." Literally "bankers." 
These timid natures who are not adapted for independent 
labor, are now advised at least to associate themselves 
with persons of greater strength under whose guidance 
they may apply their gifts to the service of the church. — 
Olshausen. 

Mt. 25:29 — "Unto everyone that hath shall be 
given, etc." 

"Everyone that hath." The disuse of a faculty finally 
leads to its complete loss, whereas the due use of it leads 
to its development and increase. — Dummelow, 

Mt. 25:31-46 — "Before him shall be gathered all 
nations . . . sheep on his right hand 
goats on the left." v. 40 — "the least 
of these my brethren." 

v. 32. "Before him gathered all nations." This is 
not the judgment of the great white throne. Here there 
is no resurrection; the persons judged are living nations; 
no books are opened. Three classes are present : sheep, 
goats, brethren. The time is at the return of Christ and 
the scene is on earth. (Cf. Rev. 20:11-15). The test 
in this judgment is the treatment accorded by the nations 
to those whom Christ here calls "my brethren." These 
brethren are the Jewish remnant (Is. 1:9; Rom. 11:5) 
who will have preached the Gospel of the Kingdom to all 
nations during the tribulation. The test in Rev. 20:11-15 
is the possession of eternal life. — Scofield. This gather- 
ing is to be on earth (Is. 34:1, 2; Joel 3:1, 2, 11, 12). 



PASSAGES 71 

There are three classes, not two. The throne here is the 
Davidic throne (Lk. 1:32). — Comp. Bible. 

v. 34. "Blessed of my Father." Observe that the 
words "of my Father" do not follow "ye cursed" in verse 
41. The blessing comes from God, the curse is brought 
by the sinner on himself. — Carr. 

v. 40. "Ye have done it unto me." Christ identifies 
Himself with His people, as in His words to Saul (Acts 
9:4). — Carr. Looking at this conversation in the most 
superficial way, some find in it the doctrine of salvation 
by works and set aside all that is written as to the neces- 
sity of a change of heart. Kindness to the poor comes in, 
not as in itself the ground of the division but as furnish- 
ing the evidence of that devotion to God as revealed in 
Christ which forms the real ground of acceptance. The 
great question which determines the separation is, "How 
have you treated Christ?" — Gibson. Good deeds are not 
substitutes for faith but they are proof of a right heart 
from which all virtues grow. The fruits of the Spirit 
are the proofs of the Spirit. — Peloubet. Heaven will be 
full of blessed surprises as we reap the fruit growing in 
power of what we sowed in weakness, and as doleful will 
be the astonishment which will seize those who see for the 
first time in the lurid light of that day the true character 
of their lives as one long neglect of plain duties which was 
all defrauding the Saviour of His due. — Maclaren. 

v. 41. "Prepared for the devil." Not for men but 
for the devil and his angels. — Dummelow. By rejecting 
God's plan of salvation men prepare themselves for the 
place God never prepared for them and throw their lot 
in deliberately with the devil. — Lewis. 

v. 46. "Everlasting punishment." It should be notice- 
ed that the word "eternal" stands in each case. — Meyer. 
"Eternal" and "everlasting" are the same word in the 
Greek. — Scofield. There is no possible way of reducing the 
force of this word which will bring the awfulness of the 



72 PERPLEXING 

doom within the bounds of finite imaginations. There is 
not the slightest suggestion of hope in the word. — Expos. 
Bible. Punishment for sin is eternal upon earth — no 
man can outlive his sin in time. Sin carries eternal con- 
sequences with it. — Parker. 

Mt. 26:17 — "feast of unleavened bread." 

It was not the first day of the "feast" but the first day 
of unfermented bread, or as Luke calls it, the day on 
which leaven was banished from their houses, the 14th of 
Nisan, the "preparation day" (Jno. 19:31). — Anderson. 
The 14th of Nisan commenced after sunset on the 13th. 
— Booth. Properly speaking, these two (the Passover 
and the feast of unleavened bread) are quite distinct, the 
Passover taking place on the 14th of Nisan and the feast 
of unleavened bread commencing on the 15th and lasting 
for seven days, to the 21st of the month. From this 
close connection they are generally treated as one, both 
in Old and New Testaments. Josephus on one occasion 
describes it as "a feast of eight days." — Edersheim. 

Mt. 26:26— "This is my body." 

Does it mean that as Jesus blessed the bread, it became 
His actual physical body, or does it mean that the bread 
represents His body and just as you take the bread and 
it becomes a part of you, so we partake of Christ and He 
becomes a part of us? (See 1 Cor. 10:4, 16; 11:25; 
Mk. 14:22; Lk. 22:19; Jno. 6:53). Romanism teaches 
that by a miracle worked by the priest, the bread 
and wine are changed as to their substance and 
converted into the body and blood, together with the soul 
and divinity and the bones and sinews, of Christ. When 
Christ instituted the sacrament, He took the bread and 
brake it. Are we to suppose that He had two bodies in 
the upper room, the one living and the other dead? The 
theory of transubstantiation takes the Romanist to these 
impious absurdities. — McDonald. "This is my body" im- 



PASSAGES 73 

plies not literal presence but a vivid realization by faith, 
of Christ in the Lord's supper as a living Person, not a 
mere abstract dogma. — Church of Eng. Prayer Book. 
Rome teaches that we eat Christ, in the present, corporally 
"until He come" (1 Cor. 11 :26), a contradiction in terms. 
— J. F. & B. Eating the bread signifies a feeding of the 
soul on Christ, the true and Living Bread from heaven. 
The soul, not the stomach, is satisfied at this feast. — 
Evans. 



Mt. 26:28 — "This is my blood of the new testa- 
ment (covenant) . . . shed for the remis- 
sion of sins." 

No covenant could be made without the shedding of 
blood (Ex. 24:8; Heb. 9:22) and no remission of sins 
without it. — Bullinger. See 1 Cor. 11:25. The fresh 
covenant is the new relation established between God and 
man by the incarnation, and that relation is now being 
actualized by the offering of the blood which is the life, 
and the communication of the life in that blood to them. 
— Carr. The cup renews the memories of the great sacri- 
fice made for our sakes. — KaufTman. 

Mt. 26:29 — "will not drink . . . until that 
day." 

The Lord's supper links Calvary with the second ad- 
vent of Christ (1 Cor. 11:26). — Meyer. (See on Lk. 
22:16, 18.) 

Mt. 26:30 — "sung an hymn." 

Probably the second part of the great "Hallelujah" 
(Ps. 115, 116, 117, 118).— Comp. Bible. 

Mt. 26:39 — "O Father, if it be possible, let this 
cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, 
but as thou wilt." 

This was not a prayer for deliverance from the cross. 



74 PERPLEXING 

From that He never drew back (J no. 12:27, 28). We 
are distinctly taught, not only that the Father always heard 
Jesus (Jno. 11:41, 42), but that He was heard in this 
specific instance (Heb. 5:7), and when a prayer is heard 
the very thing- asked is given (1 Jno. 5 :14, 15). He felt He 
was about to die of agony then and there. He asked 
that the cup might pass on (lit. "carry along") until the 
appointed hour on the cross, and the cup did pass on. He 
was saved from the death agonies for God strengthened 
Him (Lk. 22:43). — Torrey. Jesus' astonishment and 
distress were not due to recoil from His appointed death. 
If that were their cause, Jesus has been surpassed in 
heroism, not only by many a martyr but by many a rude 
soldier. — Maclaren. Jesus was praying for deliverance 
from death in that hour. In His prayer (Mk. 14:36) He 
says " all things are possible," implying that what He was 
praying for was possible of accomplishment. But was 
it possible to do away with the atonement? (Lk. 24:44- 
46) . It was for this He had come into the world. From 
this He wanted no deliverance, either by means of human 
or angelic defenders (Mt. 26:52-56). May not Geth- 
semane have been a last, supreme effort of Satan to defeat 
the purposes of God? If it was God's will for Jesus to 
perish in the garden instead of in the appointed way, 
Jesus was submitted. He prayed for deliverance and 
was heard (Heb. 5:7). Angels saved Him from that hour 
and that cup. — B. 

Mt. 26:42 — "if this cup may not pass." 

See on v. 39, 

Mt. 26:45 — "The hour is at hand, and the Son 
of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners/' 

He no longer needs their sympathy, the battle is over, 
the hour for His betrayal is at hand. He had bidden them 
watch and pray that they enter not into temptation, but 
they had not heeded and had slept. So now while Jesus 



PASSAGES 75 

triumphed because of that night of prayer, they went out 
to fail. — Torrey. 

Mt. 26:52 — "All they that take the sword shall 
perish with the sword." 

Jesus wanted neither earthly nor heavenly power to 
save Him from the cross. Peter put Jesus and the dis- 
ciples in the attitude of rebels against the Roman govern- 
ment. It was not God's purpose that Jesus should die 
in a midnight brawl (v. 56). It was as necessary that 
the disciples should live as that He should die on the 
cross. He must die that there might be a Gospel to 
preach. They must live that there might be someone to 
preach it. The Christian's warfare is with the sheathed 
sword. — Sel. Jesus lays down a law against the adoption 
by those who are His, of any remedy of this kind, declar- 
ing it to be a remedy which could only, in the end, be pro- 
ductive of more harm. "It is not for me," He says — "it 
is not for any of mine — to have recourse to the sword." 
— Lewis. Christ here condemns the reign of brute force. 
The advantages of warfare are only apparent gains. 
War leads to war. The seeds of revenge are sown in the 
scars of the conquered. — Thomas. 

Mt. 27:6 — "chief priests took the silver pieces 
and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the 
treasury, for it is the price of blood." 

See Deut. 23 :18. The priests seemed to reason that 
the blood-money which was thus returned was excluded 
also. — Plumptre. How scrupulous they were. But 
those punctilious scruples made them unconsciously ful- 
fill the Scriptures (Zech. 11:12, 13).— J. F. & B. 

Mt. 27:9 — "They took the thirty pieces of sil- 
ver, the price of him that was valued, whom 
they of the children of Israel did value." 

The citation is from Zech. 11:13 (not Jeremiah,) but 
the language is not followed exactly. Among the expla- 



76 PERPLEXING 

nations of the prophecy being attributed to Jeremiah 
rather than Zechariah are the following : 1. Jere- 
miah, who begins the book of the prophets in the Hebrew 
canon, is intended to indicate the whole of that division 
of the Scriptures. 2. This is an error on the part 
of an early transcriber. 3. The allusion is to Jer. 
18:1-4; 19:1-3, yet more distinctly to Zech. 11:12, 13.— 
Horn. Com. "The price of him that was valued" — at this 
rate they valued Him. The children of Israel strangely 
undervalued Him, when His price (the price of a slave) 
would not buy a potter's field, a pitiful, sorry spot of 
ground. — Henry. 

Mt. 27:10— "potter's field." 

So named because once owned by a potter. It has 
ever since been applied to the burying places of strangers. 
— Garry. Tradition locates this in the Valley of Hin- 
nom, south of Jerusalem. — Lewis. 

Mt. 27:12 — "He answered nothing." 

Silence is the best answer to ingrained prejudice. — 
Sel. There was no occasion for answering. Nothing 
was alleged but what carried its own confutation along 
with it. — Henry. 

Mt. 27:24 — "washed his hands before the mul- 
titude." 

In so doing Pilate followed a Jewish custom which all 
would understand (Deut. 21:6; Ps. 26:6). — Camb. Bible. 
"See ye to it" ("Ye shall see to it." — lit.) "I presume 
that ye take to yourselves the whole responsibility of the 
deed." — Morison. 

Mt. 27:33 — "Golgotha — a place of a skull." 

The name is generally thought to be derived from the 
shape and appearance of the hillock or mound on which 



PASSAGES 7_l 

the crosses were reared. The English "Calvary" comes 
from the Vulgate translation of Lk. 23:33, and means 
"a bare skull/' — Carr. The site is not certainly known. 
Tradition places it on top of the remarkable knoll out- 
side the Damascus gate on the north side of Jerusalem,. 
It was from this cliff the criminal used to be flung before 
being stoned, according to the Talmud. — Chaplin. 

Mt. 27:46 — "My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me?" 

For the time He is abandoned by the Father. God 
cannot look upon sin. Now the concentrated wrath of 
God against the sin of the world is descending upon Him. 
He plunges into eternity's blackest moment of despair. 
The hiding of the Father's face was the bitterest in- 
gredient of the cup given Him to drink. "Why hast thou 
forsaken me?" God gave no answer. Let the ages an- 
swer. Let every believing soul answer. — Pink. He was so 
closely identified with the race which He came to save that 
He felt the burden of its sin and cried as the representa- 
tion of humanity, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" He 
was forsaken that we might not be forsaken, that we 
might be delivered from our sins and eternal death. — 
Dumntelow. Sin was crowding the Son of God to the 
wall. The accumulated sin of the centuries was crush- 
ing His soul. There were the hosts of hell rioting in hell- 
ish delight over their seeming triumph. There was the 
mocking, scoffing crowd. But worst of all, was the de- 
sertion of the Father whose face was hidden from Him. 
He was enduring the tortures of the damned in hell. He 
was treading the winepress of God's wrath alone. — Hor- 
ton. 

Mt. 27:47 — "This man calleth for Elias." 

A blasphemous Jewish joke, by an awkward and god- 
less pun upon the word "Eli !" — Meyer. Or it might be 
that the loud cry "Eli, Eli" wakened the consciences of 



78 PERPLEXING 

some of the onlooking Jews and filled them with the 
thought that perhaps the turning point may now have 
actually come, and Elijah might appear to bring in the 
day of vengeance — and, occupied thus, they may not have 
heard the remaining words. — Lange. 

Mt. 27:51 — "veil of the temple rent in twain 
from the top to the bottom." 

This veil divided the holy place into which the priests 
entered from the holy of holies, into which only the high 
priest might enter on the day of atonement (Ex. 26:31; 
Lev. 16:1-30). The rending of that veil, which was a 
type of the human body of Christ (Heb. 10:20), signified 
that "a new and living way" was opened for all believers 
into the very presence of God with no other sacrifice or 
priesthood save Christ's (Heb. 9:1-8; 10:19-22).— Sco- 
field Bible. It was a sign showing that now, by the death 
of Christ, there was a revelation of the mystery hid for 
ages. It was a sign by which God declared that a free 
right of way into the Holiest was henceforth open to all. 
— Stanford. "From top to bottom." It was rent from 
above. It was the first testimony from God's side that the 
work of the sin-Bearer was done. — Gaebelein. 

Mt. 27:52 — "Many bodies of the saints which 
slept arose." 

That these bodies returned to their graves is not said 
and may not be inferred. The inference is that these 
saints with the spirits "of just men made perfect" (Heb. 
12 :23) from Paradise went with Jesus (Eph. 4 :8-10) into 
heaven. — Scofield Bible. Who were these that were 
raised? What was it precisely that happened after the 
Lord's resurrection? It is vain to conjecture, but 
at least the miracle teaches how, by the work of Calvary, 
Christ had power and authority to recover from the grasp 
of death the life that He once created. — Stanford. This 
opening of the graves and attracting of the spirits of the 



PASSAGES 79 

holy dead is but a specimen of the supernatural power 
of His death. — Thomas. A glorious symbolical procla- 
mation that the death which had just taken place had 
"swallowed up death in victory" and, whereas the saints 
that slept in them were awakened only by their Lord, it 
was fitting that "the Prince of Life" should be the first 
that should arise from the dead (Acts 6:30, 31 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 
20, 23; Col. 1 :18; Rev. 1 :5).— J. F. & B. 

Mt. 28:13 — "His disciples came by night and 
stole him away while we slept." 

They undertook to testify to what took place while their 
eyes were closed in slumber. Not very valuable testi- 
mony but it is as good as those who deny the resurrection 
of Christ are able to produce. — Torrey. 

Mt. 28:19 — "baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." 

The three, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, have one name. 
No being, however glorious, not being God, could be in- 
cluded in one name. The order is equally clear — first, He 
from whom all proceeded; second, He through whom 
all proceedeth; third, He by whom all proceedeth. — Horn. 
Com. 



MARK 



Mk. 1:1 — "beginning of the gospel." 

For best commentary on this see Lk. 16:16. Law and 
prophets ended with John who heralded the new regime. 
— Burn. 

Mk. 1:4 — "baptism of repentance for remission 
of sins." 



See on Lk. 3:3. 



80 PERPLEXING 

Mk. 1 :6 — "locusts and wild honey." 

It is probable that actual locusts (Lev. 11:22) and 
honey made by wild bees are meant, and not anything 
gathered from trees. — Plummer. (See on Mt. 3:4.) 

Mk. 1:12 — "The Spirit driveth Him." 

Better "driveth Him forth" (R. V.). Matthew and 
Luke avoid the word, perhaps lest it suggest that Christ 
was unwilling to go. — Camb. Bible. This is divine sup- 
plemental information as to the character of the leading 
spoken of by Matthew and Luke. — Comp. Bible. The 
Spirit "impelled Him." — Weymouth. 

Mk. 1:15 — "kingdom of God is at hand." 

See on Matt. 3 :2. The kingdom of God is denned by 
St. Paul in Rom. 14:17. Its real nature lies "in the hid- 
den man of the heart." 1. "Righteousness" — 2. 
"Peace" — the peace of God, which God only can give 
and the world cannot take away ; the peace which passeth 
all understanding, all barely rational conception — 3. 
"Joy in the Holy Ghost" — joy wrought in the heart by 
the blessed Spirit. It is termed "the kingdom of God" 
because it is the immediate fruit of God's reigning in the 
soul. It is called the "kingdom of heaven" in Matthew 
because it is, in a degree, heaven opened in the soul (see 
1 Jno. 5:11, 12; Jno. 17:3).— John Wesley. 

Mk. 1:23-24 — "Unclean spirit cried out . . . 
I know thee who thou art." 

Demons, themselves tormentors and destroyers of their 
victims, discern in Jesus their own destined Tormentor 
and Destroyer, anticipating and dreading what they know 
and feel to be awaiting them. The unclean spirit's testi- 
mony of Him as the Holy One of God was given with 
no good will, but in hope that by the acceptance of it, 
Jesus might appear to the people to be in league with 



PASSAGES 81 

evil spirits — a calumny which His enemies were ready 
enough to throw out against Him. But a wiser than 
either was here, who invariably rejected and silenced the 
testimonies which came to Him from demons, and thus 
was able to rebut the imputation of His enemies against 
Him. (Mt. 12:24-30).— Jamieson. (See on 3:11, 12). 

Mk. 1:32 — "diseased . and possessed 

with devils." 

Note the distinction made between insanity (which is 
disease) and demon possession. — B. Demon possession 
is not an organic or bodily disorder, a kind of hallucina- 
tion. The presence of a demon in certain men neither 
absorbs nor yet destroys their personality. The man 
possessed of a demon is under the domination of a spirit 
which tyrannizes over him, suspends or fetters his liberty, 
deprives him, of the normal control of his body, speaks 
by his mouth and deranges his feelings. The abnormal 
state of his faculties is not due to an unhealthy condition 
of the brain. It is born of the violent and disturbing ac- 
tion of a superior will. The healing of the one possessed 
is beyond the power of medicine. It can only be effect- 
ed by the moral influence of one spirit on another. It is 
true that actual illness sometimes accompanied possession. 
Certain senses were often paralyzed, but these maladies 
should not be confounded with the possession itself. — 
Didon. 

Mk. 1 :44 — "See thou say nothing ... of- 
fer for cleansing." 

Our Lord desires to check, as far as possible, the ten- 
dency on the part of the populace to regard Him as a 
mere wonder-worker (v. 45) because such a reputation 
would inevitably blind men to the primary object of His 
divine mission, which was not the healing of the body, 
but the salvation of the soul. At the same time He would 
afford the Jewish authorities no pretext for asserting that 



82 PERPLEXING 

He set Himself above the law. — Horn. Com. There is a 
great danger of pressing personal testimony too far. It 
was better for this man to go to his house and think over 
in silence what God had done for him. Often the young 
convert, before he has had any experience, is encouraged 
to blaze abroad his story until there is danger that when 
the devil of unbelief is driven out, the devil of pride shall 
enter in, and the man begins to think he has done some- 
thing great in trusting in Jesus. — Stuart. (See on Mt. 
8:4.) 

Mk. 2:5 — "When Jesus saw their faith . . . 
said to the sick of the palsy." 

The faith of the four bearers is especially emphasized. 
It is a fact full of mystery and also of consolation that 
not a few of the gifts of healing and restoration were ob- 
tained through the faith and prayers, not so much of the 
sick and afflicted themselves, as of their relations and 
friends (Mt. 8:13; 15:28; Mk. 5:23; Jn. 4:50).— Luck- 
ock. No doubt the paralytic by this time had some faith 
for himself, for it must have been inspired by the faith 
that had been manifested in the persistent efforts of the 
four to get him to Jesus. This is vicarious faith. — Saw- 
yer. 

Mk. 2:9 — "Whether is it easier?" 

See on Mt. 9:5. 

Mk. 2:15 — "publicans and sinners." 

Tax collectors, the local agents of the Roman "pub- 
licani" or revenue officers, who farmed the taxes from 
the government. Everywhere throughout the empire they 
were hated for their rapacity and dishonesty, but among 
the Jews especially were they abhorred as being representa- 
tives of a heathen, hostile, victorious power. — Burn. 

Mk. 2:19 — "children of the bridechamber." 

A Hebraism, referring to the guests, not to the friends 



PASSAGES 83 

or groomsmen of John 3 :29. — Bullinger. The guests of 
the bridechamber would not fast and mourn while the 
bridegroom was with them. — Rice. 

Mk. 2:21 — "No man seweth a piece of new 
cloth on an old garment." 

SeeonMt. 9:14-16. 



Mk. 2:22 — "No man putteth new wine into old 
bottles." 



See on Mt. 9:17. 



Mk. 2:27 — "The Sabbath was made for man, 
not man for the Sabbath." 

It was made for man as man, whether Jew or Gentile. 
It was set apart by divine sanction from the beginning, 
not merely from the time of Moses, when God only re- 
minded His people of what had existed long before. The 
law of six days of work and one of rest is wrought into 
the very constitution of humanity and cannot be ignored 
with impunity. Men needed the Sabbath as a help to 
their devotion. — Potter. The rabbis had tried to make the 
Sabbath their own. They had multiplied offenses against 
the Sabbath law. It was wrong to travel more than 200 
cubits on the Sabbath, wrong to kill any kind of insect 
or vermin, to write two letters of the alphabet, to use a 
wooden leg or crutch, to carry a purse, or for a woman 
to carry a smelling bottle or wear a high head dress. It 
was wrong to save an animal from suffering. There were 
nearly forty man-made prohibitions of this kind. Jew- 
ish interpretation had so covered up the primal law of the 
Sabbath that it had reversed its purpose. — Rice. 

Mk. 3:11-12 — "Unclean spirits fell down before 
him . . . saying, Thou art Son of God 
He straitly charged them." 

The publication of Jesus' real character and office by 



84 PERPLEXING 

demon-inspired lips, was only an act of spite. Their in- 
tention was to force on the antagonism between truth 
and error, between holiness and sin, and prematurely to 
bring this divine history to a tragic close. Therefore 
Jesus declined this testimony. Better that Christ should 
not be made known than that He should be made known 
by unclean spirits. — Davies. (See on 1:23, 24.) 

Mk. 3:14 — "He ordained twelve." 

"Set apart." The twelve were singled out for closer 
attention upon Him and special instruction in His method 
of work. Their solemn "ordination" came afterward. 
(Jn. 20:21, 22).— Burn. 

Mk. 3:22— -"He hath Beelzebub." 

Meaning "lord of filth" — the title of a heathen deity 
to whom the Jews ascribed lordship over evil spirits. It 
was equivalent to saying, "He is possessed not merely 
by a demon, but by Satan himself. — Horn. Com. 

Mk. 3:29 — "blaspheme against the Holy Ghost." 

See on Mt. 12:31, 32. 

Mk. 3:29 — "in danger of eternal damnation." 

Lit. "is bound by an eternal sin." — Scofield Bible. 
"Guilty of a perpetual sin." — Fenton. 

Mk. 3:35 — "The same is my brother and my 
sister and my mother." 

See on Mt. 12 :50. 

Mk. 4:12 — "seeing they may see and not per- 
ceive." 



See on Mt. 13:13-15, 



PASSAGES 85 

Mk. 4:22 — "For there is nothing hid that shall 
not be manifested." 

Lit. "For nothing is hidden except unto manifestation, 
nor a secret thing done that shall not be exposed." — Sco- 
field Bible. The gospel temporarily hid would be widely 
proclaimed after the ascension. — B. The verse should be 
read in close connection with vv. 11, 12 on which these 
words shed a flood of light. God's purposes are always 
merciful. His hidings are revealings in disguise. — Horn. 
Com. 



Mk. 4:24 — "Unto you that hear shall more be 
given." 

Love the Word and you will receive power to under- 
stand what you love. — Sel. 

Mk. 4:25 — "He that hath not, from him shall 
be taken." 

SeeonMt. 13:12. 



Mk. 4:30-34 — "kingdom of God like a grain of 
mustard seed." 

See on Mt. 13:31, 32. 



Mk. 5:7 — "cried . . . What have I to do 
with thee, thou Son of the Most High God?" 

See on Mk. 1:23, 24; 3:11, 12. 



Mk. 5:9 — "My name is legion, for we are 

many." 

Cf. Mt. 12 :45 and Lk. 8:2. It may be that the demons 
within him dictated his reply, or that he himself, conscious 
of their tyranny, cried out in agony, "We are many" — 
a regiment like those of conquering Rome, drilled and 
armed to trample and destroy — a legion. — Chadwick. 



86 PERPLEXING 

Mk. 5:13 — "The unclean spirits entered into 
the swine . . . two thousand choked in 
the sea." 

See on Mt. 8:32. 

Mk. 5:30 — "knowing that virtue had gone out 
of him." 

To express this in English we must have the present 
infinitive, "perceiving in Himself His miraculous power go 
forth." The Greek does not mean that the power went 
forth without His knowledge, and that He did not know 
of its operation until after it had gone forth and worked 
the cure. The going forth of the power and His knowing 
were simultaneous. A compound verb is used. — Plum- 
mer. 

Mk. 5:39 — "The damsel is not dead but 
sleep eth." 

Why did He thus speak? Because so soon would He 
recall her spirit from the other world that it would be 
like an awakening from sleep — a sleep shorter than that 
of an ordinary night's repose. He meant more. He 
meant that the death of the body was not death, but only 
sleep. The word "death" He reserved for something 
more terrible — spiritual death. That alone was death in 
the eyes of the Lord of life. He would have men think 
little of the dissolution of the outward frame in compari- 
son with the decay and death of the spiritual life. — Blunt. 
(See on Lk. 8:52, 53). 

Mk. 5:43 — "charged them that no man should 
know it." 

See on Mt. 9 :30. 

Mk. 6:5 — "there could do no mighty work." 

The right atmosphere was wanting. Fire cannot burn 
in a vacuum. His hands indeed were laid upon a few sick 



PASSAGES 87 

folk and He healed them, but the mightier works could 
not there be accomplished — these called for stronger faith 
on the part of the people. — Quesnel. 

Mk. 6:8-9 — "take nothing for their journey- 
no scrip, money, purse." 

See on Mt. 10:9, 10. 

Mk. 6:11 — "Whosoever shall not receive you 
shake off the dust under your feet." 

See on Mt. 10:14. 



Mk. 6:48 — "walking upon the sea and would 
have passed by them." 

This He did to awaken them to call upon Him. Provi- 
dence, when it is acting directly for the succor of God's 
people, yet sometimes seems as if it were giving them the 
go-by and regarded not their case. They thought that 
He intended to pass them, but we may be sure that He 
would not. — Henry. 

Mk. 7:11 — "Ye say, If a man shall say to his 
father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a 
gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by 
me; he shall be free." 

See on Mt. 15 :4-6. 

Lit. "I have dedicated to God that which would relieve 
your need." (12). "No longer do you permit him to use 
it for his father or mother." — Scofield Bible. 



Mk. 7:15 — "Nothing from without a man en- 
tering into him can defile him: but the things 
that come out of him, those are they that defile 
the man." 

See on Mt. 15:11. 

Material processes cannot produce spiritual effects. 



PERPLEXING 



The internal translates itself into the external. Our Lord 
did not sanction indifference to the habits of personal 
cleanliness or the use and abuse of food and drink. The 
principle He lays down witnesses to the contrary. These 
matters are under our control and indicate our tastes and 
tendencies, our character. — Gregory. 

Mk. 7:19 — "goeth out into the draught, purg- 
ing all meats." 

"Draught" — sewer. Syr. reads "digestive process." 
"Purging all meats" — making all meats clean. The Syr. 
reads, "carrying off all that is eaten." — Comp. Bible. 

Mk. 7:27 — "Let the children first be filled 
not meet to take the children's bread 
and cast unto dogs." 

See on Mt. 15:26. 

Jesus' work was proceeding in a certain method. He 
could depart from that method but He must depart for a 
reason. — P. Brooks. Hard words — yes, but all de- 
pends on how they were spoken — on Christ's look and the 
tone of His voice. Did He speak with a frown or some- 
thing like a smile? There must have been some tender- 
ness, meaningness, pity, in His voice which the quick 
woman's wit caught instantly, for she interpreted it as a 
sign of hope. — Kingsley. 

Mk. 7:38— "tell no man." 

See on Mt. 9:30. 

The prohibition seemed only to whet their determina- 
tion to publish His fame. — J. F. & B. They meant 
honestly, therefore it is to be reckoned rather an act of 
indiscretion than an act of disobedience. — Henry. 



PASSAGES 89 



Mk. 8:15 — "Beware of the leaven of the Phari- 
sees . . and of Herod." 

Erroneous doctrine is like leaven in regard to its spread- 
ing property (Acts 20:30) and in regard to its effects — 
leaven sours, heats and swells (Mt. 6:16; Col. 2:21 ; Acts 
7:54-57; Col. 2:18). There was the leaven of the Phari- 
sees — superstition, consisting in phrases and observances 
and phylacteries, and little else. The leaven of the Sad- 
ducees smelt strong of profaneness in their liberty in 
prophesying, calling in question angels and spirits and 
the resurrection itself. The leaven of Herod — when 
God's truth and worship must be squared up to Herod's 
ends (1 Thess. 2:3-6; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 22 : 1 5 ) .— Leigh. 

Mk. 8:26 — "Neither go into town nor tell it." 

See on Mk. 7 :36. 

Mk. 8:29-30 — "Thou art the Christ . . . 
charged them that they should tell no man." 

This is partly a temporary precept, postponing the dis- 
ciples' testimony until after Calvary on the ground that 
already the curiosity of the nation was over-roused and in- 
terfered with His teaching. It is also a precept of per- 
petual guidance. Tell people what Christ has done and 
only assist them to find out for themselves who He is. — 
Glover. See on Mt. 16:20. 

Mk. 8:33 — "Get thee behind me, Satan." 

Peter appeared to be adopting the same recommenda- 
tion which Satan the adversary had used, and so Jesus 
said to him, "Get thee behind me, Satan." The things 
you are saying are not the thoughts and plans of God but 
they emanate from Satan and from man. — Rice. 

Mk. 8:35 — "Whosoever will save his life shall 
lose it." 



See on Mt. 10 :39. 



90 PERPLEXING 

Mk. 9:1 — "Some that stand here shall not taste 
of death till they have seen the kingdom of God 
come with power." 

See on Mt. 16:28. 

Mk. 9:5 — "Let us make three tabernacles." 

See on Mt. 17:4. 

Mk. 9:12 — "Elias verily cometh first and re- 
storeth all things." 

Building upon Old Testament prophecy (Mai. 4:5-6), 
the Scribes expected Elijah to come as the restorer of all 
things before the establishment of the kingdom. Our 
Lord told the three that this expectation was correct but 
that this prophecy had already been fulfilled in John the 
Baptist. There is a suggestion in His words that the 
prophecy will have a still fuller and completer fulfillment 
before His second coming and the establishment of the 
Messianic kingdom. — Torrey. (See on Mt. 11 :14.) 

Mk. 9:38-40 — "one casting out devils in thy 
name . . . followeth not us we 

forbad him . . . Forbid him not 
he that is not against us is on our part." 

There is a subtle comfort in telling another man to sit 
down. That is what some sects are doing all the week 
long. — People's Bible. "Forbid not" — Let us cultivate 
large hearted charity toward those who really cast out 
demons though they be not of our school. — Meyer. Christ 
does not say this man should not have followed them 
but teaches how he was to be regarded though he did not 
— as a reverer of His name and promoter of His cause. 
This condemns not only those horrible attempts by force 
to shut up all within one visible pale of discipleship, but 
the same spirit in its milder form of proud ecclesiastical 
scowl upon all who do not worship as they do. — Jamie- 
son. "He who is not against us" — See Phil. 1:18. The 
complementary but not contradictory truth to this is — "He 



PASSAGES 91_ 

who is not with me is against me" (Mt. 12:30). Neu- 
trality is sometimes as deadly as opposition (Judges 5 : 
23) .— Farrar. Cf . Mt. 12 :30 ; Lk. 11 :23. The two rules 
are perfectly harmonious, but this one is to be used in 
judging other people, the other rule in judging ourselves. 
If we are not sure that others are against Christ, we must 
treat them as being on His side. If we are not sure that 
we are on Christ's side, we have reason to fear that we are 
against Him. — Plummer. 

Mk. 9:41 — "give cup of water . . . shall 
not lose his reward." 

See on Mt. 10:42. 



Mk. 9:43-48 — "If thy hand offend thee cut it 
off." 

See on Mt. 5 :29 and 18 .7-9. 

Mk. 9:49 — "Every one shall be salted with fire 
and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." 

Scholars have regarded this passage as one of the most 
difficult of interpretation in the New Testament. The 
phrase may be explained thus — 1. Everyone will come 
into the fire of God's purification either willingly as be- 
lievers or unwillingly as unbelievers; or 2. Disciples 
will be purified by fire through trials and persecutions and 
sufferings. The latter view seems more consistent with 
the text which precedes and follows this verse. — Rice. 
The way to escape the penal fire hereafter is to seek the 
purifying and preservative fire here, the fire of the Divine 
Presence (Heb. 12:29; Deut. 4:24; 9:3; Mai. 3:2; 4:1). 

A sense of God's presence burns up all that is base and 
preserves all that is akin to Him. The Christian salted 
and illuminated by communing with God, becomes him- 
self salt and light to others. — Camb. Bible. "Every sacri- 
fice etc." — Some texts omit this clause. Every sacrifice 
was salted to assist the burning (Deut. 29:23). It is 



92 PERPLEXING 

better therefore to endure the removal of the stumbling 
block now, than to be altogether destroyed forever. — 
Comp. Bible. 

Mk. 9:50 — "Have salt in yourselves and have 
peace." 

Three times, in different connections, this proverb is 
recorded in Christ's teaching, in each case in reference 
to the failure of that which was excellent and hopeful. 
In Matthew it is applied generally to the influence of His 
people in the world, in Mark, to the danger to ourselves 
of the careless or selfish use of our personal influence, 
in Luke, to the conditions of sincere dicipleship. In all 
cases, it contemplates the possible failure of religion to 
do its perfect work. — Church. There is such a thing as 
moral and spiritual decay — in standard, motive, devotion, 
sacrifice, goodness. — Thorold. We must have the true 
savour and seasoning of personal godliness, or we will 
become utterly worthless. — Jenner. "And have peace." 
Peace without is from purity within. — Rickard. 

Mk. 10:5 — "For the hardness of your heart he 
wrote you this precept." 

"For the hardness" — "To meet." He did it in the way 
of concession or compromise. — Burn. See on Mt. 19:7, 
8. 

Mk. 10:11-12 — "Whosoever shall put away his 
wife and marry another, committeth adultery 
against her." 

See Mt. 19 :9. Turn to the law of Moses (Deut. 24:1) 
and you will see that the husband was permitted to put 
away his wife if she found no favor in his eyes, because 
he had found uncleanness in her, evidently referring to 
sin committed before marriage. If he discovered that 
he had married a bad woman, he could put her away. 
But the words of Jesus give no permission to remarry, 



PASSAGES 93 

for the phrase, "her that is divorced" is one word in the 
Greek and means "a divorced woman." Jesus really says 
that whosoever shall put away his wife and marry a di- 
vorced woman committeth adultery. Moses gave writing 
of divorcement only to the man who discovered after mar- 
riage that he had married a bad woman. She, when re- 
leased, might marry again, if any man, knowing her char- 
acter as revealed by the proceedings, should see fit to take 
her for his wife. But even this, Jesus declares, was due 
to the hardness of their hearts and not to any command- 
ment of God. Matthew's gospel, written especially to 
the Jews, mentions the one exception which Moses suf- 
fered on account of the hardness of their hearts, but when 
Mark and Luke write for the Gentiles there is no mention 
of any exception, but a plain statement of the teachings 
of Jesus concerning marriage and divorce. His words 
here give us His law for all ages. There may be divorce 
for adultery, and it may be wise to separate for other 
cause, but no remarriage, and thus the way is open to 
repentance and reunion. — Dixon. 



Mk. 10:18 — "Why callest thou me good? There 
is none good but one — that is God." 

SeeonMt. 19:17. 



Mk. 10:23 — "Hardly shall they that have riches 
enter into the kingdom of God." 

See on Mt. 19 :23. 



Mk. 10:25 — "It is easier for a camel to go 
through the eye of a needle." 

See on Mt. 19:24. 



Mk. 10:31 — "Many that are first shall be last, 
and the last first." 

See on Mt. 20:16. 



94 



PERPLEXING 



Mk. 10:38 — "Can ye drink of the cup that I 
drink of and be baptized with the baptism that 
I am baptized with?" 

See on Mt. 20 :20-23. 



Mk. 11:9- 

See on Mt. 21 :9. 



'Hosanna.' 



Mk. 11:10 — "Blessed be the kingdom of our 
father David that cometh in the name of the 
Lord." 

See on Mt. 21 :4, 5. 

"Blessed be the kingdom." — Here Mark is alone. The 
cry shows that some in the crowd had some vague idea 
that this was the inauguration of the Davidic kingdom. 
Their ideas about Jesus of Nazareth were indefinite and 
diverse. To most, He was a great Prophet. — Plummer. 

Mk. 11:13 — "seeing a fig tree . . . having 
leaves . . . found nothing but leaves for 
the time of figs was not yet." 

Fig trees which have retained their leaves through the 
winter usually have figs also. It was still too early for 
new leaves or fruit. — Scofield. In the fig tree the fruit 
precedes the foliage and therefore abundance of leaves 
was a profession that fruit was there, although it was 
not yet the season for either. — Camb. Bible. (See on 
Mt. 21:19). 



Mk. 11:23— "Whosoever shall 
mountain, Be thou removed 
have whatsoever he saith." 



say 



unto this 
he shall 



All supernatural power has its source in absolute faith 
in God. He who is endued with perfect faith enters into 
communion with the Divine Being and God makes him 
the instrument of His goodness and power. We should 
strangely misinterpret His words if we were to believe that 



PASSAGES 95 

the Spirit of God is at the beck and call of the caprice and 
vain desires of men. No one can have this undoubting 
faith to ask who does not ask according to His holy will 
— we must make ourselves one with it in absolute denial 
of self. Then and then only, will the Spirit of God in- 
spire us with the desire which is always listened to by 
God. — Didon. It is only when the heart is very childlike 
that its desires are pure and wise enough to be left with 
God, and faith strong enough to leave them. If there 
seem but few prayers answered, it only proves there are 
few real prayers offered. Many who "say prayers" do 
not lift their desires to God and lodge them in His heart. 
If we really pray we shall receive an answer. — Glover. 

Mk. 11:26 — "If ye forgive not neither will your 
Father . . . forgive." 

See on Mt. 6:12, 15. 



Mk. 12:10 — "The stone which the builders re- 
jected . . . head of the corner." 

See on Mt. 21 :42. 



Mk. 12:17 — "Render to Caesar the things which 
are Caesar's." 

Consider the respective rights of church and state in 
property, and the duty of men who at the same time may 
be members of the church and subjects of the state, to 
regard the rights and vested interests of both. We have 
a twofold duty in our twofold capacity as members of the 
church and subjects of the state. Religion is not an 
enemy to government. — Ward. Every citizen is bound to 
perform his part in the support and direction of the gov- 
ernment under which he lives, to cultivate friendly feel- 
ings toward his fellow citizens and to render a peaceful 
submission to the exercise of lawful authority. — Van 
Dyke. 



96 PERPLEXING 

Mk. 12:25— "When they shall rise from the 
dead, they neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage." 

See on Mt. 22:30. 

Here marriage is necessary to preserve the race, but 
where all are immortal, there is no need of marriage. 
Angels do not marry because they are immortal, and those 
who rise from the dead are like them. The comparison 
with angels is in all three and it had special point in dealing 
with Sadducees, correcting another of their errors (Acts 
23:8).— Plummer. 

Mk. 12:27 — "He is not the God of the dead." 

See on Mt. 22:32. 

This is the divine estimate of death. In the infinite 
view there is not a cemetery in the universe, not a grave 
on the globe, for there is no cessation or interruption of 
life caused by that which seems to us death. The body, 
as He looks upon it, is the spirit's garment only, and 
however we are called to meet death, to His vision it is 
but the stripping off of a robe and the liberation of the 
unclothed essence into higher forms of being. — King. 

Mk. 12:28 — "Which is the first commandment 
of all?" 

See on Mt. 22 :36-40. 

Mk. 12:37 — "David calleth him Lord; whence is 
he then his son?" 

See on Mt. 22:42-45; Lk. 20:42-44. 

Mk. 13:13 — "He that shall endure unto the end 
shall be saved." 

Not referring to the end of the believer's life but the 
end of the time of sorrows, the great tribulation coming 
upon the earth in the last days of the age. — Sconeld. 
(See v. 20). 



PASSAGES 97 



Mk. 13:14 — "abomination of desolation spoken 
of by Daniel." 

See on Mt. 24:15, 16. 

Mk. 13:18 — "Pray tbat your flight be not in 
winter." 

See on Mt. 24 :20. 

Mk. 13:19 — "affliction such as was not from 
the beginning of creation." 

See on Mt. 24:21. 

Mk. 13:21 — "If any man shall say to you, Lo, 
here is Christ, or Lo, he is there, believe him 
not." 

See on Mt. 24:26. 



Mk. 13:28-30 — "Now learn a parable of the fig 
tree." 

See on Mt. 24:32-34. 

Mk. 13:31 — "Heaven and earth shall pass 
away." 

See on Mt. 24:35 

Mk. 13:32 — "Of that day knoweth no man 
neither the Son, but the Father." 

A number of passages explicitly declare that Christ 
knows all things. There is one which declares that the 
Son did not know the day of His second coming. Again, 
there is a passage which certainly implies that even this 
period was known to Christ, for Paul ( 1 Tim. 6 : 14) speak- 
ing of the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ as the 
universal Judge, immediately adds, "which in his own 
times, who is the blessed and only Potentate." This in 
its obvious sense means the season that He has Himself 



98 PERPLEXING 

fixed. As the times and seasons are also said in another 
place to be in the Father's own power, so by an equiva- 
lent phrase, they are said to be in the power of the Son, 
because they are "his own times." Doubtless then, He 
knew the time of His coming. Now, certainly no such 
glaring contradiction can exist in the Word of God as 
that our Lord should know the day of His coming and at 
the same time and in the same sense not know it. Either, 
therefore, the passage must admit of an interpretation 
which will make it consistent with other passages which 
clearly affirm our Lord's knowledge of all things, or these 
other passages must submit to such an interpretation as 
will bring them into accordance with Mark. In the light 
of the two natures of Christ these statements harmonize 
with each other naturally and easily. The words "neither 
the Son" refer to Christ as the "Son of man" as shown 
by the context in Matthew and Mark. If our Lord had 
not possessed any other nature than the Divine nature, 
He could not have been ignorant of that day, but as Son of 
man, . He was ignorant of that day, hence must have 
possessed a human soul which in the limitations of its 
knowledge was ignorant of that day. — Davies. He who 
as Son of God possesses with the Father and the Holy 
Spirit the divine attribute of omniscience, condescended 
as Son of man to acquire during His earthly life only 
such installments of knowledge (Lk. 2:52) as were con- 
sistent with a creaturely form of existence (Phil. 2:6, 7). 
The main thing to remember as to this limitation is that 
it was voluntary on our Lord's part — a self-emptying for 
the purposes of His mission to our fallen race. — Burn. 
What forbids us to believe that Flis knowledge, like His 
power, was limited by a lowliness not enforced, but for 
our sakes chosen; and that as He could have asked for 
twelve legions of angels yet chose to be bound and buffet- 
ed, so He could have known the day and hour, yet sub- 
mitted as man to ignorance, that He might be made like 
in all points to His brethren? — Chadwick. He was at 
that time content to have the hour hidden from Him. — 



PASSAGES 99 

Church. (Note. — Some translate the words "but the 
Father" as "if not the Father." See Is. 9:6; Jn. 14:9. 
This makes the verse an assertion of His divinity. If He 
were not one with the Father He would not have known. 
Others take it that this was not among the things which 
Christ had received to communicate as Son of man. In 
this sense it was taken by Luther, Bengel, Lange, Web- 
ster and Wilkinson. — B.) 

Mk. 14:12 — "the first day of unleavened 
bread." 

See on Mt. 26:17. 

Mk. 14:22— "This is my body." 

See on Mt. 26 :26. 

Mk. 14:24 — "This is my blood." 

See on Mt. 26:28. 

Mk. 14:25— "I will drink no more until that 
day." 

See on Mt. 26:29; also Lk. 22:16, 18. 

Mk. 14:26 — "They sung an hymn." 

See on Mt. 26 :30. 

Mk. 14:35 — "He prayed that, if it were pos- 
sible, the hour might pass from him." 

See on Mt. 26 :39. 

Mk. 14:36 — "Take away this cup." 

See on Mt. 26:39. 

Mk. 14:41 — "The hour is come." 

See on Mt. 26:45. 



100 PERPLEXING 

Mk. 15:22— "Golgotha ... the place of 
a skull." 

See on Mt. 27:33. 

Mk. 15:34 — "Jesus cried with a loud voice say- 
ing . . . My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me?" 

See on Mt. 27 :46. 

Mk. 15:35— "Behold, he calleth Elias." 

See on Mt. 27:47. 



Mk. 15:38 — "The veil of the temple was rent in 
twain from the top to the bottom." 

See on Mt. 27:51. 



Mk. 16:7— "Tell the disciples and Peter." 

These words, which form an angel's message to the 
broken-hearted disciples, present one of the sweetest pic- 
tures in the Scriptures. The crucifixion scene is over, 
the rocks have ceased their throbbing, and the text is in 
the angel's message to the disciples who have gathered 
themselves together after the dark, dark day, and are 
seeking to comfort each other. In the company gathered 
in the upper room was one missing. This was Peter. 
He felt that he no longer had a right to the fellowship of 
the saints. Poor broken-hearted man. And I imagine 
that the disciples were talking about Peter's failure. I 
can see Peter in the outskirts of Jerusalem. I can hear him 
say, "I will go to the disciples, possibly they might have a 
word of encouragement for me." So he goes to the up- 
per room. Suddenly Mary rushes in. She has come 
from the tomb. "He is risen. He has sent word to His 
disciples to meet Him." The eleven disciples spring to 
their feet and rush out the doors. Just as Mary reaches 
the door, she sees Peter lingering. "He said, 'Tell the 



PASSAGES 101 

disciples — and Peter'." The only one who had a special 
invitation was the poor fellow that felt himself out of 
communion. — Chapman. 

Mk. 16:16 — "He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved. 1 ' 

By joining believing and being baptized did the Lord 
mean to put on an equality the highest action of the soul 
in embracing the truth of God and of Christ and the re- 
ception of an outward rite? Certainly not. But He 
did not consider that the baptism which He ordained was a 
mere outward rite. The reception of His baptism, being 
the outward sign of death and burial with Him to sin 
(Rom. 6:1-4), was worthy to be put side by side with 
believing. — Sadler. 

Mk. 16:16 — "He that believeth not shall be 
damned." 

"God is too good to damn anybody." Quite right. God 
does not damn anybody, but men damn themselves. Dam- 
nation is sin and suffering producing and perpetuating 
each other. Hell is the sin of this life acting and reacting — 
projected into the soul's future. God does not damn men. 
He moves heaven and earth to prevent it. The crucifix- 
ion was God's supreme effort to keep men from hell. 
"This is the condemnation, that light came into the world 
and men loved darkness rather than light." — Barrett. 

Mk. 16:17 — "These signs shall follow them that 
believe . . . cast out devils 
speak with new tongues." 

This promise contingent upon faith is a promise of 
power over spiritual foes and over natural disqualifica- 
tions. The timid, shrinking Peter shall speak with bold- 
ness before three thousand men and John the hasty 
Boanerges, shall become the apostle of gentleness and love. 
— Stuart. "Speak with new tongues," which they had 



102 PERPLEXING 

never learned. This was both a miracle for the confirm- 
ing of the truth of the Gospel and a means of spreading 
the Gospel among those nations that had not heard of it. 
It saved the preachers a vast labor in learning the lan- 
guages.— Henry. See Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6; 1 Cor. 12: 
10, 28; 14:5. Irenaeus states that this continued in his 
day. — Camb. Bible. These miracles were more needed 
while the church was in its infancy than after it had ob- 
tained a secure footing in the world. — Burn. 

Mk. 16:18 — "They shall take up serpents and 
if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt 
them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they 
shall recover." 

The gift of miracles was given in order to assist the 
diffusion of the Gospel at the very first. When Christian- 
ity was firmly planted, the gift seems to have been with- 
drawn.' — Dummelow. These signs did not follow all, 
even in the apostles' time, but they did follow some. And 
if they do not follow now, it is because there are other 
evidences more suitable for the later periods of Christian- 
ity. As a matter of fact, howover, such signs do follow 
the preaching of the Gospel on foreign mission fields. — 
Gray. 

LUKE 

Lk. 1 :3 — "having had perfect understanding of 
all things from the very first." 

"From the very first" — lit. "from above." So trans- 
lated in Jn. 3:31; 19:11; Jas. 1:17; 3:15, 17. In no 
other place is this Greek word (anothen) translated "from 
the very first." The use of the word by Luke is affirma- 
tion that his knowledge of these things derived from those 
who had been eye witnesses from the beginning, (v. 2) 
was confirmed by revelation. — Scofield. , 



PASSAGES 103 

Lk. 1 :6 — "walking in all the commandments 
and ordinances of the Lord blameless." 

The Old Testament man was called "righteous" because 
he walked in the commandments blameless (Rom. 10:5; 
Phil. 3:6). He was not sinless (Eccl. 7:20) but for his 
sins offered in faith the required sacrifice, and hence was 
"blameless."— Sel. 

Lk. 1:17 — "He shall go before him in the spirit 
and power of Eiias, to turn the hearts of the 
fathers to the children, and the disobedient to 
the wisdom of the just." 

"Spirit and power of Elias." From the last words of 
Malachi (4:4-6; 3:1). The Jews universally believed 
that Elijah would return visibly to earth as a herald of 
the Messiah. It required the explanation of the Lord to 
open the eyes of the apostles on this subject. "This is 
Elias which was to come" (Mt. 11:14). "Elias truly 
shall first come . . . then the disciples understood 
that he spake unto them of John the Baptist" (Mt. 17:10- 
14). The resemblance was partly in external aspect (2 
Kgs. 1:8; Mt. 3:4;) and partly in his mission of stern 
rebuke and invitation to repentance (I Kgs. 18 :21 ; 21 :20) . 
"To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children" — 
rather, "of fathers to children," i. e. as in the original 
meaning of Malachi, to remedy disunion and restore family 
life.— Farrar. (See on Mt. 11 :14 and Mt. 17:11, 12.) 

Lk. 1 :27 — "a virgin espoused to a man whose 
name was Joseph." 

Espoused — rather, "betrothed or contracted," a cere- 
mony which among many nations has always preceded 
marriage and to which great importance has been attach- 
ed.— Willcock. (See on Mt. 1:18.) 

See on Mt. 1:11. 



104 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 1:32-33 — "The Lord God shall give unto 
him the throne of his father David and he shall 
reign over the house of Jacob forever and of 
his kingdom there shall be no end." 

Let us beware of spiritualizing away the full meaning 
of these words. The "house of Jacob" does not mean "all 
Christians." The "throne of David" does not mean the 
office of a Savior to Gentile believers. These words will 
yet receive a literal fulfillment when the Lord Jesus comes 
a second time. The kingdom of which He speaks is the 
glorious kingdom prophesied by Daniel (7:27) to be es- 
tablished, not when Christ comes in humiliation, but in 
power and great glory. Then He will receive the throne 
of His father David and the promised earthly kingdom. 
— Ryle. (See Dan. 7:8; Ps. 45:6; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 11:15.) 



Lk. 1:34 — "How shall this be seeing I know 
not a man?" 

Mary's question expresses not doubt but innocent sur- 
prise. — Speaker's Com. (See on Mt. 1:18, 25.) 

Lk. 1:35 — "That holy thing which shall be 
born of thee shall be called the Son of God." 

Lit. "That which is to be begotten holy shall be called 
Son of God." — Rotherham. We may notice in the phrase, 
"that holy thing," an implied distinction between this 
child and all other children. From the very first moment 
of His earthly existence He is holy in Himself. John the 
Baptist was to be filled with the Holy Ghost from his 
mother's womb (v. 15), that is, from the first he was con- 
secrated for the great work of his life. But Jesus is one 
with the God from whom sanctification proceeds. He 
was to be called Son of God because His human nature 
was the direct and miraculous production of Divine power. 
— Speaker's Com. The Holy Spirit was the immediate 
agent in the immaculate conception of "that holy thing." 
Not that He was therefore the Father of the blessed Son, 



PASSAGES 105 

but He was the vehicle of the paternity. Nor again, that 
He so acted that the Son, as God, had nothing to do with 
the act of incarnation. The Son, in Divine will, assumed 
it, but again, the blessed Spirit wrought the process where- 
by the will was carried out. — Moule. 

Lk. 1:69 — "horn of salvation." 

Signifying "powerful deliverer and helper." The 
figure alludes to the horns of beasts as used in defense of 
themselves or their offspring. — Horn. Com. 

Lk. 1:78 — "The day-spring from on high hath 
visited us." 

The word thus translated is used by the LXX for both 
"the dawn" (Jer. 31 :40) and for "the Branch" as a title 
of the Messiah (Zech. 3 :8). The former of these is evi- 
dently the meaning of the word here. "On high" — con- 
veys the thought of the Messiah as coming from heaven. 
"Hath visited us" — in R. V., "shall visit us." — Willcock. 
(Cf. Mai. 4:2.) 

Lk. 2:21 — "when eight days were accomplish- 
ed for the circumcizing of the child." 

By circumcision Jesus entered into the covenant re- 
lationship with God in which the Jewish nation stood. 
Henceforth there rested on Him the obligation to keep 
the law and the commandments laid upon the children of 
Israel. The purification from sin which circumcision 
symbolized was an element in the rite which had no per- 
sonal significance for Him. Yet His submission to cir- 
cumcision, as afterwards to baptism, was necessary to 
His becoming "like His brethren." "Wherefore in all 
things it behoved him to be made like his brethren, that 
he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things 
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of 
the people" (Heb. 2 :17). "When the fulness of time was 
come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born 
under the law" (Gal. 4:4). "God sending his own Son 



106 PERPLEXING 

in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin 
in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3). — Liddon. 

Lk. 2:22 — "when the days of her purification 
according to the law were accomplished." 

The law of Moses prescribed: 1. The purification of 
the mother. 2. The presentation of the firstborn son to 
the Lord. So close were the ties by which God and His 
people were bound together, every mother in the time of 
her new-found happiness was called to appear before God 
to receive purification from the taint inseparably connect- 
ed with the transmission of a sinful nature, and each first- 
born son was acknowledged as so specially His, that he 
could only be redeemed from service in the Temple by 
the payment of a fine in money. The consecration of the 
family to God was one of the noblest pictures of Judaism. 
— Wordsworth. 



Lk. 2:25 — "waiting for the consolation of 
Israel." 

Simeon is a type of those who, under the old covenant, 
had waited for and longed for the coming of the Savior. 
— Wordsworth. 



Lk. 2:34 — "This child is set for the fall and 
rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign 
which shall be spoken against." 

It is noticeable in this verse that Simeon pronounces 
a benediction on Joseph and Mary, as distinguished from 
Jesus, of whom he proceeds to speak. On the principle 
that "the less is blessed of the better" (Heb. 7:7), he 
would naturally abstain from even the appearance of su- 
periority to the Child whom he held in his arms. — Ker. 
"The fall" would be to those who were scandalized by the 
lowliness of His humanity. The "rising" would be to 
those who acknowledged the truth of God's promises in 
Hirn and adored the glory of His divinity. — Nyssen. "The 



PASSAGES 107 

sign which shall be spoken against" is an allusion evidently 
to Is. 8:14, 15 where the Messiah is represented as a rock 
on which the believing find a refuge, but against which 
the rebellious dash themselves. In many parts of the 
Gospel we read of violent opposition excited by the teach- 
ing and actions of Christ, and He Himself speaks of di- 
visions and conflicts arising in consequence of the procla- 
mation of the truth (12:49-53). — Ker. 

Lk. 2:35 — ("A sword shall pierce through thy 
own soul) that the thoughts of many hearts may 
be revealed." 

The sword piercing her soul speaks of that weight of 
mysterious anguish which Mary felt as she watched the 
hatred and persecution which followed Jesus and saw Him 
die in anguish on the cross amid the execrations of all 
classes of those whom He came to save. — Anno. Bible. 
"Thoughts of many hearts revealed." In and by Christ's 
sufferings it was shown what the temper and thoughts of 
men were. Judas despairs, Peter repents, Joseph of 
Arimathea becomes courageous, Nicodemus comes by day, 
the centurion confesses, one thief blasphemes, the other 
prays, men faint and women become strong. — Ker. 

Lk. 2:52 — "Jesus increased in wisdom and 
stature and in favor with God and man." 

The incarnation was a true acceptance of humanity with 
all its sinless limitations of growth and development. Not 
a hint is offered of that omniscience or omnipotence which 
some have imputed to Him even as a child and boy. His 
schooling was probably that of the ordinary village child. 
He wrought at the carpenter's bench. His gentleness and 
grace of character endeared Him to all who knew Him. 
No stain of sin clouded His vision of divine things. — Orr. 
The statement that He increased in wisdom could not be 
predicated of the divinity of Christ, for the wisdom of 
the divine nature is infinite and cannot become either less 
or greater. These statements cannot be predicated merely 



108 PERPLEXING 

of the body, for it does not possess any wisdom and can 
neither acquire it or lose it. These statements prove the 
existence of Christ's human soul which, because it was a 
finite intelligence, could grow in wisdom, and because it 
was absolutely pure, was filled with wisdom." Jesus had 
a true human soul as well as a body. He was a genuine 
child, infant and boy. — Whedon. The fact that He in- 
creased in favor with God cannot be predicated of His 
divine nature, for it is not possible that the mutual love 
of the Son and of the Father for each other could either 
increase or diminish. It must have always been infinite 
and admitted of no fluctuations. This increase in favor 
with God could not have been predicated merely of His 
body, aside from His human soul, for the body was not 
capable of developing any excellence that should challenge 
the favor of God. These words prove Christ to have had 
a human soul, for of it only could these statements have 
been true. If Jesus did not have a human soul, then these 
words of the evangelist would seem to be destitute of 
meaning.— Davis. 

Lk. 3:1 — "tetrarch of Galilee, etc." 

"Tetrarch" signifies a prince who governs one-fourth of 
a domain or kingdom. — Dosker. 

Lk. 3:3 — "preaching the baptism of repentance 
for the remission of sins." 

John was calling individuals to repentance and to 
amendment of their ways, with a view to "making ready 
a people" who should believe on that Mightier One whom 
he announced, a people who should receive from Him, in 
due time, the promised baptism of the Holy Ghost. These 
words refute the idea that John was offering the earthly 
kingdom for the acceptance of the nation Israel. He 
made no offer to the nation, but the record plainly declares 
that he came preaching remission of sins as at hand. — 
Mauro. 



PASSAGES 109 

Lk. 3:5 — "Every valley shall be filled, and every 
mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the 
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough 
ways shall be made smooth." 

The general intention of the quotation is to represent 
repentance as the one distinguishing feature of John's 
baptism. It is allowable to see in the bringing-low of 
mountains and hills the humiliation of the Pharisaic pride, 
in the filling-up of valleys, the overcoming of Sadducean 
indifference, in making straight the crooked, the correction 
of the guile and falsehood of others (say the publicans), 
and in making smooth the rough ways, a removal of evil 
habits that are found in the best of men. — Godet. The 
metaphor is derived from pioneers who go before the 
march of a king. The general meaning of the prophecy 
is that no obstacles, whether they arose from depression, 
or power, or pride, or cunning perversity, or menacing 
difficulties, should be able to resist the pioneers and heralds 
of the kingdom of God. — Farrar. 

Lk. 3:6 — "All flesh shall see the salvation of 
God." 

Luke alone adds these words to the quotation, and his 
doing so is characteristic of his object which was to bring 
out the universality of the Gospel offer. When the moun- 
tains of earthly tyranny and spiritual pride (v. 5) are 
levelled, the view of God's saving power becomes clear to 
all flesh. — Camb. Bible. Not the Jews only, but the Gen- 
tiles, should see salvation provided. They shall have it 
set before them and offered to them, and some of all sorts 
shall see it, enjoy it and have the benefit of it. — Henry. 

Lk. 3:8 — "Begin not to say within yourselves, 
We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto 
you, that God is able of these stones to raise up 
children unto Abraham." 

John by his sledge hammer blows shatters one false 
trust after another. There was no hope merely in natural 



110 PERPLEXING 

descent from the heir of promise. The Jews thought 
Messiah was to be their Messiah. John tells them that 
God can "admit these stones" — the water-worn rocks lit- 
tering the channel of the Jordan — to the privileges in 
which they trusted. This points dimly to the transfer- 
ence of the promises to the Gentiles. — Maclaren. Descent 
from Abraham was not a mere privilege securing for all 
who could claim it inalienable advantages. It was a re- 
lationship that imposed obligations. If it did not lead 
to a cultivation of Abraham's faith, it would only draw 
down a heavier condemnation. Compare Paul's reason- 
ing in Rom. 4 that the privileges and blessing conferred 
upon Abraham belong to all who manifest his faith. See 
also Gal. 3 :7-9. God is not dependent upon us for the 
maintenance of His honor. If we are faithless, He will 
raise up those who will serve Him. He can raise them 
up from stones if necessary, as He formed Adam of the 
dust of the earth. — Bengel. 

Lk. 3:9 — "The axe is laid upon the root of . 
the trees." 

See on Mt. 3:10. 



Lk. 3:14 — "The soldiers likewise demanded of 
him, saying. And what shall we do? And he 
said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither 
accuse any falsely; and be content with your 
wages." 

He did not say, "Cast away your arms, quit the camp" ; 
for He knew that soldiers are not homicides, but ministers 
of law — not avengers of personal injuries, but defenders 
of the public safety. — Wordsworth. The desire of in- 
jury, the savageness of revenge, the lust of power, etc. — 
these are the sins which He condemns in wars, which are, 
however, sometimes undertaken by good men for the sake 
of punishing the violence of others. — Augustine. "Do 
violence to no man. Literally, "Extort money by threats 
from no man." The word implies robbery and violence. 



PASSAGES 111 

"Be content with your wages" — another proof that the 
Baptist did not bid even soldiers to abandon their pro- 
fession but to serve God in it. — Farrar. 



Lk. 3:17 — "Whose fan is in his hand, and he 
will thoroughly purge his floor and will gather 
the wheat into his garner, but the chaff will be 
burnt with unquenchable fire." 

See on Mt. 3:12. 

Lk. 3:23 — "Joseph, which was the son of Heli." 

In Matthew, where unquestionably we have the genealo- 
gy of Joseph, we are told (1 :16) that Joseph was the Son 
of Jacob. In what sense then could he be called in Luke, 
the son of Heli? He could not be by natural generation 
both the son of Jacob and of Heli. But in Luke it is not 
said that Heli begat Joseph, so that the natural explana- 
tion is that Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli who was, 
like himself, a descendant of David. That he should in 
that case be called a son of Heli ("son" is not in the 
Greek, but is rightly supplied by the translators) is in 
accord with Jewish usage (cf. 1 Sam. 24:16). The con- 
clusion is therefore inevitable that in Luke we have Mary's 
genealogy, and Joseph was "son of Heli" because espoused 
to Heli's daughter. The genealogy in Luke is Mary's. — 
Sconeld Bible. 

Lk. 4:4 — "Man shall not live by bread alone but 
by every Word of Gcd." 

See on Mt. 4 :4. 

Lk. 4:6 — "The devil said unto him, All this 
power will I give thee, and the glory of them: 
for that is delivered unto me, and to whomso- 
ever I will give it." 

We cannot say this statement is absolutely false. Satan 
has a certain limited power assigned to him; the world 
is under his power not absolutely or permanently, but 



112 PERPLEXING 

actually. Hence he is called "the prince of this world" 
(Jn. 12 :31). Worldly glory is within his power, since he 
may use it for tempting and snaring men. — Ruskin. He 
claimed this power as Satan, and as delivered to him, 
not by the Lord, but by the kings and peoples of these 
kingdoms, who gave their power and honor to the devil 
(Eph. 2:2). Hence he is called "the god of this world" 
and " prince of this world." It was promised to the Son 
of God that He should have the heathen for His inherit- 
ance (Ps. 2:8). "Why," says the devil, "the heathen are 
mine, my subjects and votaries, but however, they shall 
be Thine. I will give them to you upon condition that 
you worship me for them and say that they are rewards 
which I have given you, and consent to have and hold them 
under me." — Henry. 

Lk. 4:12 — "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy 
God." 

See on Mt. 4 :7. 



Lk. 4:19-20 — "To preach the acceptable year of 
the Lord. And he closed the book." 

This passage is a good example of what the apostle 
Peter referred to in saying that the Old Testament proph- 
ets had sought diligently to comprehend and to distinguish 
the time of the things revealed to and through them by the 
Spirit when He "testified beforehand the sufferings of 
Christ and the glory which should follow" (1 Pet. 1:10- 
12). When Christ Himself opened the book and found 
the place which contained prophecies that He was then 
about to fulfil, He knew how to "rightly divide the Word 
of truth." He read so much of the passage as pertained 
to His first coming (in which portion is no reference to 
a glorious earthly kingdom) and then He closed the book 
with the emphatic statement, "This day is this Scripture 
fulfilled in your ears." What next follows in Isaiah's 
prophecy is the clause, "and the day of vengeance of our 



PASSAGES 113 

God," and following that are references to the blessings of 
the earthly kingdom which awaits His second coming. — 
Mauro. "Acceptable year of the Lord" is an allusion to 
the year of jubilee (Lev. 25). The benefits conferred 
upon Jewish society by this institution were: 1. The 
Israelite who sold himself into slavery received his free- 
dom. 2. Families which had alienated their patrimony 
received it back again. 3. A generous amnesty was 
granted to those who were in debt. All these are appro- 
priate figures of the spiritual blessings which Christ was to 
confer upon men in His first advent. — Gibson. His first 
advent had nothing to do with "vengeance." He did not 
then come to judge the world but to save the world. — 
Vaughan. 

Lk. 4:23 — "Ye will surely say unto me this 
proverb, Physician, heal thyself." 

This was a taunt which was used again when He hung 
upon the cross (23:35). As great a need existed in 
Nazareth for the healing labors of the Savior as in Ca- 
pernaum, but the unbelief of its inhabitants hindered the 
exercise of His powers (Mt. 13:58; Mk. 6:5). — Lange. 
The best modern equivalent of this proverb is "Charity 
begins at home." "Do something for thine own country- 
men." Or it may mean, "Do something for yourself — 
work a miracle here and save yourself from being reject- 
ed." — Speaker's Com. 

Lk. 4:25-27 — "Unto none of them was Elias 
sent, save . . . unto a woman, etc. 

The general teaching of the incidents quoted from Old 
Testament history and of Christ's own course of pro- 
cedure on this occasion are as follows: 1. that God 
is free to confer His blessings on whom He will; 2. 
that it is the fault of men if they do not receive those 
blessings. Widows and lepers in Israel had not the faith 
shown by those who actually received benefits from the 



114 PERPLEXING 

prophets ; the mood of the people of Nazareth was differ- 
ent from that of those who had been healed in Capernaum ; 
3. that in every nation those who fear God and work, 
righteousness are accepted of Him. — Luther. 

Lk. 4:33-34 — "unclean devil . . . cried 

out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone 

I know thee who thou art, the Holy 
One of God." 

See on Mk. 1 :23, 24. 



Luke 4:39 — "rebuked the fever." 

It is not necessary to understand the word "rebuke" as 
implying a personification of the fever. It evidently 
means speaking in a firm, authoritative manner and toler- 
ating no resistance to His command. — Burgon. 

Lk. 4:40-41 — "divers diseases . . . and 
devils (demons) also." 

See on Mk. 1 :32. 

Lk. 5:8 — "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell 
down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; 
for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 

Peter saw the glory of the Master and that great light 
focused upon himself. Peter had a vision of Peter and 
he dropped at the feet of Jeseus, saying, "I am a sinful 
man." If we only hold Jesus before men they will rea- 
lize how dark their own lives are. — Belden. 



Lk. 5:14 — "He charged him to tell no 

See on Mt. 8 :4 and Mk. 1 :44. 



Lk. 5:20 — "When he saw their faith, he said 
unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." 

See on Mk. 2:5. 



PASSAGES H5 

Lk. 5:23 — "Whether is easier to say." 

See on Mt. 9:5. 

Lk. 5:30 — "publicans and sinners." 

See on Mk. 2:15. 

Lk. 5:34 — "Can ye make the children of the 
bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is 
with them?" 

See on Mk. 2:19. 



Lk. 5:36 — "No man putteth a piece of new 
garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both 
the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was 
taken out of the new agreeth not with the old." 

"No one, he said, tears a piece from a new garment 
to mend an old one. Otherwise he would not only spoil 
the new, but the patch from the new would not match the 
old." — Weymouth. 

See on Mt. 9:14-16. 

Lk. 5:37 — "No man putteth new wine into old 
bottles." 

See on Mt. 9:17. 



Lk. 5:39 — "No man also having drunk old wine 
straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old 
is better." 

This is a very kindly apology, as it were, for those who 
had become habituated to the old religious system and 
could not as yet accept and enjoy "the new wine" of Chris- 
tianity. The old is not better in itself, but better in their 
estimation. — Whitelaw. 

Lk. 6:17-18 — "to be healed of diseases, and 
they that were vexed with unclean spirits." 

See on Mk. 1 :32. 



H6 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 6:19 — "There went virtue out of him and 
healed them all." 

See on Mk. 5:30. 

Lit. "Power came forth and healed them all." There 
is something unusually grand in this description, giving 
to the reader the impression of a more than usual exuber- 
ance of His majesty and grace in this succession of heal- 
ings, which made itself felt among all the vast multitude. 
— Brown. 

Lk. 6:20 — "Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the 
kingdom of God." 

See on Mt. 5 :3. 

Matthew adds "in spirit." (Cf. Is. 66:2). But Luke 
gives the address of Christ to the poor whose very pres- 
ence showed that they were His poor and had come to 
seek Him ; and the Evangelist seems to have been impress- 
ed with the blessings of a faithful and humble poverty 
in itself (cf . Jas. 2 :5 ; 1 Cor. 1 :26-29) and loves to re- 
cord those parts of our Lord's teaching which' were es- 
pecially "the gospel to the poor" (see 1:53; 2:7; 6:20; 
12:15-34; 16:9-25).— Camb. Bible. 

Lk. 6:25 — "Woe unto you that are full! for 
ye shall hunger." 

"Full" — those who possess all that the heart can de- 
sire, and do not hunger and thirst after righteousness. 
Illustrated in the fate of the rich man in Lk. 16, who 
had been accustomed to "fare sumptuously every day" 
and who found himself both excluded from the heavenly 
banquet and stripped of those luxuries in which he had 
placed all his delight. — Lange. 

Lk. 6:25 — "Woe unto you that laugh now! for 
ye shall mourn and weep." 

Senseless, frivolous, ungodly mirth is here rebuked as 



PASSAGES 117 

in Ecel. 2:2; 7:6; Prov. 14:13. Yet on the other hand 
the Christian is described as "sorrowful yet always re- 
joicing" (2 Cor. 6:10) and receives exhortations to main- 
tain this spirit of holy gladness (Phil. 4:4). — Lange. 

Lk. 6:26 — "Woe unto you when all men speak 
well of you." 

Cf. Jas. 4:4, "Know ye not that the friendship of the 
world is enmity with God?" Jn. 15:19, "If ye were of 
the world, the world would love his own." Universal 
praise from the world is a stigma for the Savior's dis- 
ciples since it brings them into the suspicion of unfaith- 
fulness, of characterlessness and of the lust of pleasing 
men. False prophets can ever reckon upon loud applause. 
— Van Oosterzee. 



Lk. 6:29 — "Unto him that smiteth thee on one 
cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh 
away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat 
also." 

See on Mt. 5 :39. 



Lk. 6:30 — "Give to every man that asketh of 
thee." 

See on Mt. 5 :42. 

Lk. 6:35 — "Lend, hoping for nothing again." 

It is meant of the rich lending to the poor a little money 
for their necessity. In such a case we must lend with a 
resolution not to demand interest, as we may justly, from 
those that borrow money to trade with. We should lend 
though we have reason to suspect that what we lend we 
lose, lend to those who are so poor that it is not probable 
they will be able to repay. This precept will be best il- 
lustrated by that law of Moses (Deut. 15:7-10) which 
obliged them to lend to a poor brother as much as he 
needed though the year of release was at hand. There 



118 PERPLEXING 

are two motives to this generous charity : 1 . It will re- 
dound to our profit, for "our reward shall be great. ,, 2. 
It will redound to our honor, for herein we resemble God 
and will be owned as "children of the Highest/' — Henry. 

Lk. 6:37 — "Forgive and ye shall be forgiven." 

See on Mt. 6:12, 15. 

Lk. 6:41— "Why beholdest thou the mote that 
is in thy brother's eye, and perceivest not the 
beam that is in thine own eye?" 

See on Mt. 7 :3. 

Lk. 7:24-25 — "What went ye out in the wilder- 
ness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 
A man clothed in soft raiment?" 

See on Mt. 11:7,8. 

Lk. 7:28 — "But he that is least in the kingdom 
of God is greater than he." 

See on Mt. 11:11. 



Lk. 7:32 — "They are like unto children sitting 
in the market place . . . saying, We have 
piped unto you and ye have not danced." 

SeeonMt. 11:16, 17. 



Lk. 7:35 — "Wisdom is justified of her children." 

See on Mt. 11:19. 

Lk. 8:10 — "to others in parables: that seeing 
they might not see: and hearing, they might not 
understand." 

Unwillingness to obey the truth leads to incapacity to 
see the truth. It is not Christ's wish to reserve knowledge 
of deeper truths for initiated disciples, but deprivation of 



PASSAGES 119 

the faculty of understanding follows as a necessary conse- 
quence of neglect of that faculty. There is abundant 
compensation, on the other hand, in the fact that the 
method of teaching He adopted opens up fresh vistas of 
truth to those who are willing to be taught — who receive 
what they hear into an honest and good hearts — Horn. 
Com. The translation here is "difficult and the words must 
not be pressed with unreasonable and extravagant literal- 
ism to mean that the express object of teaching by para- 
bles was to conceal the message from all but disciples. 
Parables had a blinding and hardening effect on the false 
and the proud and the wilful. The parable did not create 
the hardness, but only educed it when it existed. — Farrar. 



Lk. 8:17 — "For nothing is secret, that shall not 
be made manifest; neither anything hid, that 
shall not be known and come abroad." 

For the connection here see on Mk. 4:22. 



Lk. 8:18— "Whosoever hath, to him shall be 
given, and whosoever hath not, from him shall 
be taken even that which he seemeth to have." 

See on Mt. 13:12. 



Lk. 8:21 — "My mother and my brethren are 
these which hear the word of God and do it." 

See on Mt. 12 :50. 



Lk. 8:28 — "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, 
thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, 
torment me not." 

See on Mt. 8 :29. 



Lk. 8:30 — "What is thy name? And he an- 
swered, Legion." 



See on Mk. 5 :9. 



120 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 8:33 — "Then went the devils (demons) 
out of the man, and entered into the swine: and 
the herd ran violently down a steep place into 
the lake and were choked." 

See on Mt. 8:32. 

Lk. 8:46 — "I perceive that virtue is gone out 
of me." 

See on Mk. 5 :3(X 

"Virtue"— rather "power"— R. V. 

Lk. 8:52-54 — "But he said, Weep not; she is 
not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him 
to scorn, knowing that she was dead." 

"Not dead but sleepeth," i. e., she is as one who sleeps, 
for shortly she is to awake. A similar word is used of 
Lazarus (Jn. 11:11). — Whitelaw. She did but sleep till 
He who is the Resurrection and the Life came to awaken 
her. In accordance with our Lord's teaching here, the 
apostolic and later church has instinctively substituted 
"sleep" for "death" in speaking of the believer's removal 
from this world (see Acts 7:60; 1 Thess. 4:14). — Words- 
worth. (See on Mk. 5:39.) 

Lk. 8:56 — "He charged them that they should 
tell no man." 

See on Mt. 9:30. 



Lk. 9:3 — "Take nothing for your journey.* 

See on Mt. 10:9, 10. 



Lk. 9:5 — "Whosoever will not receive you, 
when ye go out of that city shake off the very 
dust of your feet for a testimony against 
them." 

See on Mt. 10:14. 



PASSAGES 121 

Lk. 9:21 — "He straitly charged them and 
commanded them to tell no man that thing." 

See on Mt. 16:20; Mk. 8:29, 30. 



Lk. 9:24 — "Whosoever will save his life shall 
lose it." 

See on Mt. 10 :39. 

Lk. 9:27 — "There be some standing here 
which shall not taste of death till they see the 
kingdom of God." 

See on Mt. 16:28. 

"See the kingdom of God." It is evident from the con- 
nection in which this stands, the first fulfillment of these 
words was in the Transfiguration. — Horn. Com. 

Lk. 9:33 — "Let us make three tabernacles." 

See Mt. 17:4. 



Lk. 9:48 — "Whosoever shall receive this child 
in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall 
receive me receiveth him that sent me." 

See on Mt. 18:5, 6. 

The central point of the comparison is the child's hu- 
mility. This humility frees the child's understanding 
from vain imaginations, the child's heart from rivalry, 
and the child's will from stubbornness. — Van Oosterzee. 
The child whom Jesus sets before His followers here 
stands as a type of the humble and childlike disciple, and 
(the dispute having been about the comparative greatness 
of the disciples) such a disciple is the greatest: he is so 
honored by God that he stands on earth as the representa- 
tive of Christ, and of God Himself. — Meyer. 



122 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 9:49-50 — "We forbad him because he f ol- 
io weth not with us ... he that is not 
against us is for us." 

See on Mk. 9 :38-40. 



Lk. 9:59-60 — "Suffer me first to go and bury 
my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead 
bury their dead." 

See on Mt. 8 22. 



Lk. 9:62 — "No man having put his hand to the 
plough, and looking back is fit for the kingdom 
of God." 

The true motive to follow Jesus must absorb every 
other. It means renunciation, consecration and expecta- 
tion. — Wordsworth. 



Lk. 10:4 — "Carry neither purse, nor scrip nor 
shoes: and salute no man by the way." 

See on Mt. 10:9, 10. 



Lk. 10:5 — "First say, Peace to this house." 

See on Mt. 10:13. 

Lk. 10:6 — "If the son of peace be there, your 
peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall turn to 
you again." 

"Son of peace" — i. e., one capable of receiving their 
message. The meaning here is that the disciples were to 
communicate their message of peace, as the prophet of 
old was to communicate his message of warning (Ezek. 
3:17-21), to all whether worthy or not. It is promised 
to them, that even if their message falls on inattentive 
ears or stubborn hearts, yet it shall not be fruitless, since 
the duty performed shall bring peace to themselves — "it 
shall turn to you again." — Speaker's Com. 



PASSAGES 123 

Lk. 10:7 — "The laborer is worthy of his hire." 

See on Mt. 10:10. 

Lk. 10:11 — "Even the very dust of your city, 
which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against 
you." 

See on Mt. 10:14. 

Lk. 10:18 — "And he said unto them, I beheld 
Satan fall as lightning from heaven." 

It seems rather inadequate to understand by these words 
that Christ has witnessed with exultation the victories 
over evil spirits gained by the Seventy during their mis- 
sion. In this brief speech Jesus sums up the whole great 
conflict with, and defeat of, the Power of evil, from the 
first even till accomplished by His own victory. "I be- 
held Satan" refers to the original fall of Satan when he 
lost his place as an angel of light, not keeping his first 
estate. This "I beheld" belongs to the period before the 
foundation of this world when He abode in the bosom 
of the Father.— Alford. "Wonder not," He says, "that 
demons are subject to you, for their prince is fallen from 
heaven. Although men saw not this, I saw it. He fell 
as lightning because he was a bright archangel and Luci- 
fer. If then he is fallen, what will not his servants (the 
inferior fallen spirits) suffer." — Theophylact. 

Lk. 10:19 — "I give unto you power to tread on 
serpents and scorpions." 

These are ever connected in Scripture with what is 
noxious to man. (Cf. Gen. 3:1; Rev. 12:9; 20:2; Num. 
21:6; Acts 28:3; Ps. 91:13; Rev. 9 :3- 10). —Bruce. So 
far as the promise was literal, the only fact of the kind 
referred to in the New Testament is Acts 28 :3-5. — Camb. 
Bible. 



124 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 11:4 — "Forgive us our sins for we also for- 
give everyone that is indebted to us." 

See on Mt. 6:12. 

Lk. 11:4 — "Lead us not into temptation." 

See on Mt. 6:13. 

Lk. 11:8 — "Though he will not rise and give 
him because he is his friend, yet because of his 
importunity, he will rise and give him as much 
as he needeth." 

The point of the parable is that if a churlish man can 
be forced by importunity to give against his will, how 
mfuch more can persevering prayer bring down from the 
bountiful Father in heaven, all good things (v. 13). — 
Dummelow. Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance 
but laying hold of His willingness. — Philips Brooks. 

Lk. 11:15 — "He casteth out devils through 
Beelzebub." 

See on Mk. 3 :22. 



Lk. 11:20 — "the finger of God." 

Cf. Ex. 8:19, "The magicians said unto Pharaoh, "This 
is the ringer of God." — Camb. Bible. "Finger" here 
meaning the Holy Spirit. — Comp. Bible. 



Lk. 11:24 — "When the unclean spirit is gone 
out of a man, he walketh through dry places 
seeking rest and findeth none." 

See on Mt. 12 :43-45. 



Lk. 11:30 — "As Jonas was a sign unto the 
Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to 
this generation." 

The history of the Old Testament presents no more 



PASSAGES 125 

striking example of a wonderful preservation from cer- 
tain death than that of the prophet Jonah ; nay, it is singu- 
lar in its kind, inasmuch as the prophet, as it were, shut 
up in death, and buried, yet came forth again to life. — 
Stier. 



Lk. 11:31 — "The queen of the south shall rise 
up in the judgment with the men of this genera- 
tion, and condemn them." 

See on Mt. 12:42. 

Lk. 11:32 — "The men of Nineveh shall rise up 
in the judgment." 

See on Mt. 12:41. 



Lk. 11:34 — "The light of the body is the eye: 
therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole 
body also is full of light; but when thine eye is 
evil, thy body also is full of darkness." 

See on Mt. 6 :22 



Lk. 11:35 — "Take heed therefore that the light 
which is in thee be not darkness." 

It becomes so when we are "wise in our own conceit" 
(Prov. 26:12) which makes us think a way right when it 
is the way of death (Prov. 16:25) and makes us call evil 
good and good evil, put darkness for light and light for 
darkness (Is. 5:20, 21). — Farrar. 

Lk. 11:41 — "Rather give alms of such things as 
ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto 
you." 

Jesus is contrasting the positive value of a kindly deed 
with the worthlessness of mere outward observances. Let 
them do one single loving, unselfish act — not for the sake 
of the action itself, nor for any merit inherent in it, but 
out of pure good will toward others — and their whole 



126 PERPLEXING 

inward condition would be different. In other words, as 
the cup and the platter, the outside of which they cleansed 
so scrupulously, were defiled by the bad means by which 
their contents were procured, or the evil uses to which they 
were put, so they would be purified, not by any formal 
outward acts, but by that spirit of love which would dic- 
tate a right and charitable destination of their contents. 
— Speaker's Com. Be not anxious about the outward 
part, but rather attend to its contents, and do but give 
alms therefrom, and the food and everything else shall be 
pure to you. — Bloomfield. A deed of unselfishness and 
good will would make a change in the whole inward con- 
dition. — Willcock. 

Lk. 1 1 :42 — "Ye tithe mint and rue and all man- 
ner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the 
love of God." 

See on Mt. 23:23. 

Lk. 1 1 :44 — "Ye are as graves which appear 
not, and the men that walk over them are not 
aware of them." 

The Jews whitewashed the tombs, not to embellish them, 
but to point out the gravestones to the passerby, that he 
might not tread on it or touch it. Later casuists pro- 
nounced the man unclean who casually stepped on a grave 
or touched a tombstone. This explains our Lord's say- 
ing here. It amounts to a charge against the Pharisees 
of concealing their true character from the people and 
spreading contamination while no one suspected them of 
evil. — Fraser. 

Lk. 11:50-51 — "That the blood of all the proph- 
ets, which was shed from the foundation of 
the world, may be required of this generation." 

The murder of Abel was the first in the strife between 
unrighteousness and holiness, and as these Jews represent 
in their conduct, both in former times and now, the mur- 



PASSAGES 127 

derer of the first, they must bear the vengeance of the 
whole in God's day of wrath. Our Lord mentions the 
murder of Zacharias, not as being the last, even before His 
own day, but because it was connected specially with the 
cry of the dying man: "The Lord look upon it and re- 
quire it" (2 Chron. 24:22).— Al ford. It belongs to the 
fearful earnestness of the divine retributive righteous- 
ness, that when a generation concurs in heart with the 
wickedness of an earlier generation, it receives, in the final 
retribution, of the accumulated guilt, as well as the pun- 
ishment for its own as also for the former sins which it 
had inwardly made its own. — Van Oosterzee. 

Lk. 1 1 :52 — "Ye have taken away the key of 
knowledge." 

Jesus represents knowledge of God and of salvation 
under the figure of a sanctuary : it was the duty of the 
scribes to lead the people into it, but they had locked the 
door and kept possession of the key. This key is the 
Word of God, the interpretation of which the scribes 
planned exclusively for themselves. — Godet. 

Lk. 12:1 — "leaven of the Pharisees." 

See on Mk. 8:15. 

Lk. 12:3 — "Whatsoever ye have spoken in 
darkness shall be heard in light; and that which 
ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be 
proclaimed upon the housetops." 

There is a time coming when all fakes and fads will be 
brought out into the limelight. — B. Or — "All that ye on 
account of persecution shall have taught in secret, will, 
at the victory of My cause, be proclaimed with greatest 
publicity." — Meyer. St. Luke has described the course 
of the Gospel from the closet of Mary in Nazareth to the 
housetops of the city of Rome. — Vaughan. 



128 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 12:6 — "Are not five sparrows sold for two 
farthings?" 

See on Mt. 10 :29. 

Lk. 12:10 — "Whosoever shall speak a word 
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven 
him; but unto him that blasphemeth against the 
Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven." 

See on Mt. 12:31-32. 

Lk. 12:14 — "And he said unto him, Man, who 
made me a judge or a divider over you?" 

Christ refused to interfere, for His interference would 
have encouraged the delusion that the Messiah would, in 
His first advent, be an earthly Ruler. He wished to draw 
a distinction between the kingdoms of this world and 
the government of the church. Furthermore, He saw 
that this man was neglecting graver matters than the in- 
heritance which he wished to be shared with him. — Am- 
brose. This is a lesson to all religious teachers. Their 
influence in the external relations of life is great, but only 
when it is indirectly exercised. It is broken when they 
interfere directly, with secular and political matters. When 
ministers keep within their proper sphere, all parties look 
up to them, and they are often the means of mollifying 
the bitterest feelings and reconciling the most conflicting 
interests. — Brown. 

Lk. 12:26 — "If ye be not able to do that which 
is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" 

"If ye then are unable to do even a very little thing, why 
be ye over-anxious about larger matters?" — Weymouth 
Trans. 

Lk. 12:28 — "If God so clothe the grass which is 
today in the field, and lo, tomorrow is cast into 
the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O 
ye of little faith?" 

See on Mt. 6:30. 



PASSAGES 129 

Lk. 12:32 — "Fear not, little flock, for it is the 
Father's good pleasure to give you the king- 
dom." 

The little flock addressed was primarily the disciples, 
v. 1. For the metaphor, see Ps. 23 :1 ; Is. 40:11 ; Mt. 26: 
31 ; Jn. 10:12-16. If to His flock He will give the king- 
dom, how much more shall He give you bread. — Farrar. 
The words, "little flock," recall the insignificance of that 
then literal handful of disciples. The words, "the Father's 
good pleasure," hold Up to their view the eternal love 
that encircled them; and the high inheritance awaiting 
them. — Bengel. 

Lk. 12:35 — "Let your loins be girded about and 
your lights burning." 

"Loins girt about" — to run with speed and freedom the 
race set before us. "Lights burning" — to run with safe- 
ty. Christ would have His disciples to be ready and 
equipped for the journey that they may pass rapidly 
through the world and may seek no fixed abode or rest- 
ing place but in heaven. He furnishes them with lamps, 
as persons who are to perform a journey during the night. 
The first recommendation is to run vigorously, and the 
next is to have clear information as to the road. — Calvin. 

Lk. 12:36 — "Be like unto men that wait for 
their lord when he will return from the wed- 
ding: that when he cometh and knocketh, they 
may open unto him immediately." 

The watchful Christian is one who would not be over 
agitated if he found that Christ was coming at once. Few 
will thus "open immediately." They will have something 
to do first; they will have to get things ready. They will 
need time to collect themselves and summon about then; 
their better thoughts and affections. — Newman. 



130 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 12:42 — "Who then is that faithful and wise 
steward whom his lord shall make ruler over his 
household, to give them their portion of meat 
in due season?" 

"Who is the faithful and intelligent steward whom his 
master will put in charge of his household to serve out 
their rations at the proper times?" — Weymouth. "Por- 
tion of meat." This suggests the duties of presbyters, or 
elders, in Acts 20 :28.— Willcock. 

Lk. 12:44 — "Of a truth I say unto you, that he 
will make him ruler over all that he hath." 

The faithful stewards who have distributed to the ser- 
vants their alloted portion of spiritual food will be ad- 
vanced to the highest posts in the age to come. (See Mt. 
25:21-23).— J. F. & B. 

Lk. 12:48 — "Unto whomsoever much is given, 
of him shall he much required: and to whom 
men have committed much, of him they will ask 
the more." 

Future punishment shall be only proportional to sin, 
and there shall be a righteous relation between the amount 
of the two. They who knew not, will not, of course, be 
punished for any involuntary ignorance but only for ac- 
tual misdoing. — Camb. Bible. 

Lk. 12:49 — "I am come to send fire on the 
earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" 

By "fire" here we are to understand the higher spiritual 
element of life which Jesus came to introduce in this earth 
with reference to its mighty effects in quickening all that 
is akin to it, and destroying all that is opposed. To cause 
this element of life to take up its abode on earth, and 
wholly pervade human hearts with its warmth was the 
lofty destiny of the Redeemer. — Brown. The Gospel is 
a fire. A fire is a power. Fire spreads, glows, rages, 
devours. When the Gospel is called a fire, we mean not a 



PASSAGES 131 

name, an idea, a poor faint, creeping thing, which may be 
disregarded and let alone, but a great active, victorious, 
irresistible force. — Calvin. Or — "I came to throw fire 
upon the earth." — Weymouth. Christianity ultimately 
brings eternal peace and joy to individuals and families, 
to nations and to the world. But with prophetic fore- 
sight our Lord here anticipates the fact that the peace and 
joy must often be preceded by terrible conflict and suffer- 
ing. — Cook. 

Lk. 12:50 — "I have a baptism to be baptized 
with; and how am I straitened until it be ac- 
complished." 

A baptism of suffering. The thought of the terrible 
suffering He is to endure is before His mind, and weighs 
upon Him like a nightmare until it is over. The first 
evidence of this feeling is in this passage; a second time 
it comes to view while He is in the temple (Jn. 12:27). 
A third time it breaks forth in all its vehemence in the 
garden of Gethsemane. — Hull. "How am I straight- 
ened." "How am I being pressed." The prayer in Geth- 
semane shows how this was. (See Lk. 22:41, 42; Heb. 
5:7).— Bullinger. 

Lk. 12:51 — "Suppose ye that I am come to give 
peace on earth ? I tell you, Nay : but rather 
division." 

This saying may distress weak minds, for the prophets 
everywhere promise peace and tranquility under the reign 
of Christ, and Christ is our peace (Eph. 2:14), and the 
very office of the Gospel is to reconcile us to God. But 
we must remember that this peace is associated with faith 
and exists only in the hearts and consciences of the godly. 
The corrupt nature converts the inestimable gift into a 
most destructive evil. The cause of the division is hatred 
of the truth, hatred of a holiness which rebukes sin, hatred 
of authority such as the Gospel claims. As a result of this 
division, the world is convinced of sin and the faith and 



132 PERPLEXING 

patience of believers are called forth and strengthened. — 
Naz. 

Lk. 12:58-59 — "When thou goest with thine 
adversary to the magistrate . . . give 
diligence ... I tell you that thou shalt 
not depart hence, till thou hast paid the very last 
mite." 

Our Savior seems to say, "In a merely temporal matter, 
you are careful to act thus prudently. While the day of 
mercy yet lasts, should you not discover the like anxiety 
to avail yourselves of it? — through Me to obtain deliver- 
ance from the wrath of God before it is too late?" — Burg- 
on. 

Lk. 13:1-3 — "They told him of the Galileans 
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacri- 
fices . . . Jesus said . . . Suppose ye 
that these Galileans were sinners above all 
because they suffered such things? I 
tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall 
likewise perish." 

Jesus was from Galilee. Men are always too ready to 
gossip about the misfortunes of others. Christ had just 
been speaking about God's judgments on men who knew 
His will and did it not. The bystanders at once named the 
destruction of the Galileans by Pilate. Why? Because 
they thought the sudden death of these men was a mark 
of God's displeasure at some grievous sin. Christ quick- 
ly saw the thoughts which had led the speakers to utter 
these evil tidings — the fault of forming unkind judgments 
about people in misfortune. He rebukes them for their 
want of charity, and cautions them for the future. God's 
judgments will fall upon all unrepentant sinners. — Taylor. 

"Blood mingled with their sacrifices." The suggestion 
is : God must have been specially angry with these Gali- 
leans, who were cut off by a heathen, in God's house, at 
His altar, and when engaged in the act of worshipping 
God. — Leighton. 



PASSAGES 133 

Lk. 13:6-9 — "He spake unto them also this 
parable . . . fig tree . . . Let it alone 
this year, till I dig about it and dung it: and if 
it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that, 
thou shalt cut it down." 

See on Mt. 21:19; Mk. 11:13. 

The parable teaches that a solemn responsibility attaches 
to those who are within the pale of revealed religion. 
God notes the length of time that men continue fruitless 
under the means of spiritual culture. To be cut down 
is the desert of all the fruitless. The purpose of the 
mercy that is shown to them is to produce a change in 
them. — Trench. 

v. 8. "Dig about it, etc." The idea of God's final sen- 
tence being delayed, that time may be left to men to re- 
pent, runs all through the Scriptures. The special treat- 
ment accorded by the vinedresser to the barren tree rep- 
resents the marvelous deeds of love wrought by Jesus 
in His death and resurrection, and afterwards in the gift 
of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the apostles, in 
order to rouse the nation from its impenitence. — Godet. 



Lk. 13:18-19— "kingdom of God . . . like 

a grain of mustard seed . . grew and 

waxed a great tree . . fowls of the air 

lodged in the branches." 

See on Mt. 13:31, 32. 



Lk. 13:20, 21— "kingdom of God . . . like 
leaven which a woman took and hid in three 
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." 

See on Mt. 13 :33-35. 



Lk. 13:24 — "Strive to enter in at the strait 
gate." 

See on Mt. 7:13. 



134 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 13:30 — "There are last which shall be first 
and there are first which shall be last." 

Prodigals often repent, and get ahead of decent moral- 
ists ; the Gentile converts obtained the priority to the Jew- 
ish nation ; open persecutors become preachers of the Gos- 
pel, and those who have been the grief and reproach of 
families and neighborhoods, sometimes become their chief 
credit and blessing; whilst plausible characters are by 
this very circumstance rendered more inveterate against 
the truth.— Scott. 

Lk. 13:32 — "The third day I shall be perfected." 

He calls His death His perfecting because by it He per- 
fected His work by atoning for the sins of the world, also 
because it was followed by His glorious resurrection and 
ascension. — Dummelow. 



Lk. 13:33 — "I must walk today and tomorrow, 
and the day following: for it cannot be that a 
prophet perish out of Jerusalem." 

"I must walk" — "go on my journey." So far from be- 
ing scared away by the fear of death, He knew that in the 
city to which He journeyed He would meet certain death. 
"It cannot be, etc." There was a violation of a custom 
in the murder of a prophet anywhere but in Jerusalem. 
The words are instinct with a terrible irony. John the 
Baptist had been an exception to the rule — he had not 
been slain in Jerusalem, but that city could scarcely allow 
its monopoly to be again infringed upon. — Morison. 

Lk. 14:14 — "Thou shalt be recompensed at the 
resurrection of the just." 

The resurrection of the just is the first resurrection 
(Rev. 20:5) when, at the Lord's second coming, the dead 
in Him shall rise (1 Thess. 4:16) and the living in Him 
be caught up to meet Him in the air (v. 17). Cf. Lk. 
20 :35. The first resurrection will include only the saved 



PASSAGES 135 

and will precede the second, that of non-believers and dis- 
believers, in point of time, by at least 1,000 years. — Elli- 
cott. 



Lk. 14:15 — "Blessed is he that shall eat bread 
in the kingdom of God." 

The recompense at the resurrection of the just (v. 14) 
suggested to this guest a great banquet in the kingdom of 
the Messiah at which the faithful Israelite would sit down 
in company with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (13:28). 
He extols the greatness of the privilege. Christ warns 
him and others, in the parable that follows, that the privi- 
lege will by no means be so generally recognized or emr 
braced by the Jewish people as was commonly thought. — 
Willcock. 



Lk. 14:16-24 — "A certain man made a great 
supper . . and bade many 

None of those men which were bidden shall taste 
of my supper." 

See on Mt. 22:1-13. 

Historically the closing threat foretells the exclusion of 
Israel of that day as a whole from the feast, but it does 
not necessarily imply that individuals who separated them- 
selves from the mass and changed refusal into acceptance 
should be debarred access. — Maclaren. 



Lk. 14:26 — "If any man come to me and hate 
not his father and mother, and wife and chil- 
dren, and brethren and sisters; yea, and his own 
life also, he cannot be my disciple." 

All terms which define the emotions or affections are 
comparative. Natural affection is to be, as compared 
to the believer's devotedness to Christ, as if it were hate. 
— Scofield. The whole spirit of Christ's life and teaching 
was enough to prevent His disciples from understanding 
the word "hate" in its bald and literal meaning. Christ 



136 PERPLEXING 

did not trample under foot everything that is human. He 
exhorted His disciples to love even their enemies. He 
Himself respected the ties of natural relationship. He 
taught that the spirit of hatred and contempt was the very- 
spirit of murder. The word cannot here mean that we 
ought to love our relatives and friends with a diminished 
affection. The words, "hate his own life also," are the 
key to the whole aphorism. A disciple is to hate his 
relatives and friends in the same sense in which he is 
to hate himself. He does not hate himself in the bald, 
literal sense, for he still cares for his own true, best life 
and wishes that to be developed and strengthened. But 
he does, in a sense, hate himself when the self in him rises 
in rebellion against God and Christ and duty. In this 
sense, also, a man may hate his relatives and friends. 
This hatred he may manifest in deliberately choosing to 
renounce the favor and affection of his friends, rather 
than bow to their demands and recant his allegiance to 
Christ. It is the positive revulsion of feeling with which 
the faithful soul turns away from the temptations of af- 
fection, and in the positive sacrifice of friendship which 
may be involved in allegiance to duty. Therefore, just 
as he who "hateth his life in this world" really "keeps it 
unto life everlasting," so he who, according to Christ's 
paradox, hates his friends, for His sake, really loves them 
with a deeper, more abiding and more unselfish affection. 
— Finlayson. 

Lk. 14:33 — "Whosoever he be of you that for- 
saketh not all that he hath, cannot be my dis- 
ciple." 

In other words, the cost of following Him (v. 28) may 
be that of forsaking the interests, affections and posses- 
sions of this present life. — Horn. Com. Christ did not 
make things too easy for His disciples. Three times in 
this discourse is the tremendous sentence repeated — "he 
cannot be my disciple," each time with a condition of dis- 
cipleship harder and sterner than before. Hating our 



PASSAGES 137 

life, carrying our cross, forsaking all, are necessary if we 
would truly follow Him. — Thorold. 

Lk. 14:34 — "If the salt have lost his savour 
wherewith shall it be seasoned?" 

See on Mt. 5:13. 

If a man who ought to teach others and to preserve 
them from corruption, lose his savour, and become repro- 
bate, how shall he be seasoned ? — Bede. 

Lk. 16:1-9 — "There was a certain rich man 
which had a steward . and the Lord 

commended the unjust steward because he had 
done wisely." 

This is a passage that puzzles many who take it that 
Jesus holds a dishonest scoundrel up for our imitation, 
that He commends an unrighteous steward and commands 
His disciples to make themselves friends of the mammon 
of unrighteousness. 

1. Note first that Jesus does not hold him up for imita- 
tion. He held him up, first of all, as a warning of what 
would overtake unfaithful stewards and how they would be 
called to give account, and their stewardship taken from 
them. Jesus goes on to show how the "sons of this 
world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of 
the light," (v. 8, R. V.). They are wiser at this point — 
they used their utmost ingenuity and put forth their ut- 
most effort to make present opportunities count for the 
hour of future need. How many twentieth century 
"sons of light" who profess to believe that eternity is all 
and time nothing in comparison, are putting forth their 
utmost efforts to make the opportunity of the present life 
count most for the needs of the great eternity which is to 
follow ? 

Jesus did not point to the steward's dishonesty to stir 
our emulation. He plainly rebukes his dishonesty, *>ut 



138 PERPLEXING 

Jesus did point to his common sense in using the oppor- 
tunity of the present to provide for the necessities of the 
future. Even in pointing out his common sense, Jesus 
carefully guards His statement by saying that the unjust 
steward was "wiser for his own generation." He knew 
only the life that now is, and from that narrow and im- 
perfect standpoint, he was wiser than the "son of light" 
from his broad and true standpoint of knowing eternity, 
but an eternity for which he is not wise enough to live 
wholly. 

2. Why did the Lord commend the unrighteous stew- 
ard? The Lord Jesus did not commend the unrighteous 
steward. See R. V. of v. 8. The R. V. gives the true 
reading by translating "his Lord commended etc," (that 
is, the steward's lord). It was not the Lord Jesus who 
commended him, but his own lord, and he only commended 
his shrewdness. The Lord Jesus, so far from commend- 
ing him, flatly calls him "unrighteous," and just below 
warns against unfaithfulness in stewardship (v. 10, 11). 

3. Why does Jesus command His disciples to make 
themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness? 
"Mammon of unrighteousness" means nothing more nor 
less than money, which is designated in this way because 
it is such a constant minister to sin and selfishness. Note 
that the R. V. renders the word "of" "by means of." 
What Jesus bade His disciples do was to make them- 
selves friends by means of money — so to use the money 
God entrusted to them in the present life as to make 
friends by the use of it, and (as the context shows) to 
make these friends among God's poor who would go to 
the eternal habitations, and be there, ready to give us, 
their benefactors, a royal welcome when our life here on 
earth is ended, and so our money has failed. Jesus puts 
into new and striking form His oft-repeated teaching, not 
to keep our money hoarded, spending it on ourselves, but 
to spend it in doing good, especially to God's needy ones, 
and so invest it in heavenly and abiding securities (Cf. 



PASSAGES 139 

Mt. 6:19-21; 19:21, 29; 25:40). That this teaching of 
Jesus was clearly understood by His hearers is proven 
by v. 14 (R. V.) which tells us that the Pharisees, who 
were lovers of money, heard all these things and scoffed 
at Him. — Torrey. We should make such use of our 
earthly possessions as when they fail, as they surely will, 
we shall be the richer and not the poorer for having been 
entrusted with them. This is making friends by means 
of the mammon of unrighteousness. — Farr. 

Lk. 16:11 — "If therefore ye have not been 
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will 
commit to your trust the true riches?" 

We cannot disconnect the stewardship of time from the 
issues of eternity. All that we possess is ours for a sea- 
son, that through our prudent use of it we may advance 
our own interests forever. By fidelity below in that 
which is least, we prepare ourselves for larger trusts and 
for a jurisdiction hereafter for which the stewardship of 
time furnishes but a slight analogy. We are to be trusted 
hereafter according to the measure of our capacity for 
trust acquired here, for there will be stewardships in the 
other world. The general principle of fidelity is to be 
trained in this life. — Pope. 

Lk. 16:12 — "If ye have not been faithful in that 
which is another man's, who shall give you that 
which is your own?" 

Wealth is here described as belonging to another, be- 
cause it is not absolutely our own, but may at any moment 
be recalled, and must, at the hour of death, be resigned. 
In opposition to it are those spiritual benefits which are 
truly "our own" because, once obtained through faith, 
they constitute an inalienable property. — Vaughan. 

Lk. 16:13 — "Ye cannot serve God and mam- 
mon." 

Christ here states what the fidelity is, which in this 



140 PERPLEXING 

stewardship (see above) is required. It is a choosing of 
God instead of money for our Lord. These two lords 
have characteristics so opposite, it will be impossible to 
reconcile their services (Jas. 4:4). The only faithful- 
ness to one is to break with the other. — Trench. 



Lk. 16:16 — "The law and the prophets were 
until John; since that time the kingdom of God 
is preached, and every man presseth into it." 

The ministry of John the Baptist, short as it was in 
its duration, slight apparently in its consequences, is made 
the turning point of the dispensations. The spiritual his- 
tory of the world was cleft in twain by that brief mission. 
— Vaughan. The law and the prophets prepared men 
for the kingdom of God, but now the kingdom has come, 
the mercy of God to the sinful is about to be revealed, 
and all are summoned to take advantage of it. — Selby. 

Lk. 16:17 — "It is easier for heaven and earth 
to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." 

The holiness of God which the law proclaims remains 
forever the same ; the glad tidings of forgiveness through 
Christ do not imply diminution of the divine requirements. 
On the contrary, under the Gospel a more spiritual stand- 
ard of morality is set up. — Selby. 

Lk. 16:19-31 — "There was a certain rich man 
clothed in purple . . . and a certain beg- 
gar named Lazarus." 

v. 19. "There was a certain man." It is not said that 
this is a parable. It is related as an historical incident. 
We are introduced to a certain rich man. God did not 
think him of sufficient importance to mention his name. 
Rich men are not of as much consequence in God's eyes 
as they are in ours. — Torrey. Called by some Dives. 
"Dives" is simply the Latin for "a rich man." — Camb. 
Bible. 



PASSAGES 141 

v. 22. "Carried by angels." These scornful rabbis who 
were listening would have declined to accompany a beg- 
gar's funeral. The angels gladly escort his liberated spir- 
it to the abodes of the blessed, for he was a true child of 
God. — Grossart. "Abraham's bosom." His spirit went to 
the happy side of hades where the saints rested in bliss. — 
Horn. Com. To correct the notion that wealth, as such, 
excludes from happiness hereafter, or that poverty, as 
such, insures fruition of that happiness, it is sufficient to 
observe that the beggar Lazarus is carried by angels into 
the bosom of the rich man Abraham who made right use 
of the riches of the world and trusted in the Lamb of God. 
— Trench. "Rich man buried." What happened to the 
carcase of the poor man is passed over in delicate reserve. 
— Morris. 

v. 23. "In hell." Literally hades, the place of depart- 
ed human spirits between death and resurrection, the 
equivalent of the Old Testament sheol. Hades, accord- 
ing to Scripture, was formerly in two divisions, the abodes 
respectively of the saved and of the lost. The former 
was called paradise and Abraham's bosom. The lost were 
separated from the saved by a great gulf fixed. There 
has been no change of place or conditions so far as the 
unsaved are concerned, but a change has taken place since 
the ascension of Christ, which affects paradise. Paradise, 
since the ascension, is referred to as in the immediate pres- 
ence of God. Eph. 4:8-10 indicates the time of the 
change. During the present age the saved who die are 
immediately "at home with the Lord." The wicked dead 
in hades and the righteous dead at home with the Lord, 
alike await the resurrection (Job. 19 :25 ; 1 Cor. 15 :53). — 
Torrey. "Lifted up his eyes." The rich man is thus 
represented as awaking from the momentary unconscious- 
ness of death to full consciousness, and the first object 
he discerns is Lazarus whom he had seen lying in wretch- 
edness at his gate, reposing in a place of honor beside 
Abraham. He calls to Abraham, and this is the only 
example in Scripture of the invocation of saints and does 



142 PERPLEXING 

not afford the least encouragement for the practice. — Mac- 
laren. 

v. 24. "He cried." Here are some plain teachings 
about the intermediate state of the unsaved: (a). Sense 
of paint — "tormented." (b). Sense of memory — "Son, 
remember." (c). Sense of loss — "Seeth Abraham afar 
off." (d.) Sense of fear — "Send Lazarus." (e). An- 
guishing thoughts — "tormented." — Sawyer. There are 
conversations in hades. — Morris. "Father Abraham." 
The dead cannot communicate with the living and cannot 
benefit by them (vs. 27-29), nor can any intercessions 
of the living alleviate the conditions of the impenitent 
dead. The Lord Jesus misrepresented nothing. Though 
we may not be able to explain all His statements, yet we 
know that the fire, the water, the gulf, are intense symbols 
to express the intenser emotions of pain, desire and des- 
pair which attend the lost in hades. — Needham. "I am 
tormented." The children of mammon have but regret, 
remorse and shame in the ultimate outcome of their cher- 
ished methods. Their friends can neither help them nor 
be helped by them. — Nicholson | 

v. 25. "Thou receivedst thy good things." He was not 
lost simply because he was rich. He was lost because 
he sought his good things in this life. It is better to be 
a poor man here and have Jesus Christ and eternal life 
than to be a rich man here, faring sumptuously every day, 
and go to hell hereafter. The fact that man is in poverty 
and distress of body is no proof that God is displeased 
with him. — Torrey. The parable gives no ground for 
the interpretation that the temporal felicity of Dives was 
a reward for any good things he had done, or the misery 
of Lazarus a punishment for his temporal sins. — Farrar. 
Of what use then is earthly wealth, so dearly prized by 
the covetous, if they are without salvation and spending 
their wealth only in gratifying their own selfish desires? 
— Gray. 

v. 26. "Great gulf fixed." See on v. 23. 



PASSAGES 143 

The thought is that an unfathomable gulf which could 
not be spanned, separated between the rich man and the 
company of the blessed. — Robertson. 

v. 30. "If one went unto them from the dead." This 
man had carried with him into hades his neglect and 
practical contempt of the Word, his self-will and self- 
vindication, his pertinacious demand of signs and wonders 
from the mighty hand of God. — Stier. The ordinary 
means of salvation are amply sufficient. If these means 
of grace fail to convert us, no miraculous means are to 
be expected. — Foote. 

Lk. 17:2 — "offend one of these little ones." 

See on Mt. 18 :5-7. 

Lk. 17:5 — "Lord, increase our faith." 

For faith they ask, and, by asking, show their faith. 
Thus prayer ever increases faith and faith ever inclines to 
prayer. — Williams. The disciples assumed that the "faith 
which worketh by love" is not of themselves but is the 
gift of God through His Son. In this assumption, having 
been taught of the Spirit, they were correct. — Arnot. 
Faith's Author alone can increase faith (Heb. 12:2; Eph. 
2:8).— B. 

Lk. 17:10 — "So likewise ye, when ye have done 
all those things which are commanded you, 
say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done 
that which was our duty to do." 

The teaching is that there is no such thing as a surplus 
of merit in man. Even though a man should perform all 
his duty, he is, in himself, destitute of merit before God. 
— Arnot. Our failings render us much more unprofit- 
able. — Bengel. The word "unprofitable" here does not 
rnean "useless." — Alford. "Unmeritorious." — Strong. 



144 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 17:20 — "The kingdom of God cometh not 
with observation." 

He implies that their entire point of view is mistaken; 
they were peering about for great external signs, and over- 
looking the spiritual processes which were at work before 
their eyes. — Farrar. Jesus annihilates their expectations 
of a glorious outward manifestation at that time. The 
kingdom was to be of the inner and spiritual world. — 
Williams. 

Lk. 17:21 — "Neither shall they say, Lo here! 
or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God 
is within you." 

"Within you" — lit. "in the midst of you." It could not 
be said of a self-righteous, Christ-rejecting Pharisee, that 
the kingdom of God, as to its spiritual content, was within 
him. The kingdom of this present age is in the hearts 
of men. Ultimately, at the close of this age, the kingdom 
will come with outward show (see v. 24). — Scofield. 
Their desire to see the Messianic kingdom come with 
great outward show would not be fulfilled, nor was it a 
part of His program in His first advent. They would 
not at that time be able to say, "Lo here ! or, lo there !" — 
B. 



Lk. 17:22 — "The days will come when ye shall 
desire to see one of the days of the Son of 
man, and ye shall not see it." 

The days will come when you will be sorry for all this. 
Lose not, then, for want of a little early diligence, ad- 
vantages which in their highest form you can never after- 
ward get back. Truth seen too late, opportunities lost, 
but well remembered! Who can fitly speak of the soul 
agonies of these Christ-rejectors when they saw their mis- 
take ? — Vaughan. 



PASSAGES I 145 

Lk. 17:23 — "They shall say to you, See here; 
or, see there: go not after them nor follow 
them." 

It is taken for granted that there will be ("in his day" 
— v. 24) a visible manifestation of the kingdom of Christ, 
and Christians are warned against false announcements 
of its appearance. At first, this idea seems contrary to 
the statement in v. 21. Yet in that verse it is the spiritual 
kingdom (of this present age) the advent of which could 
not be observed outwardly; here, it is a question of the 
visible, glorious kingdom which is to come. — Godet. 

The approach of the Davidic kingdom cannot be ob- 
served in scientific, educational or philanthropic advance- 
ments of the day, or by any other movements in society. 
It will come with great suddenness, as the lightnings out 
of the sky (v. 24).— B. (See on Mt. 24:26.) 

Lk. 17:24 — "As the lightning that lighteneth 
out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto 
the other part under heaven: so shall also the 
Son of man be in his day." 

"As the lightning when it flashes, shines from one part 
of the horizon to the opposite part, so will the Son of m^n 
be on His day." — Weymouth. The second coming of the 
Lord will be universal and instantaneous. He will be His 
own witness, and His appearing will be manifest to all. — 
Godet. 

Lk. 17:32 — "Remember Lot's wife." 

Remember her hopeful beginning in abandoning 
Sodom; her failure in the decisive hour; her punishment. 
Her looking back implied regret at leaving the place where 
she had dwelt in comfort so long, and doubt as to whether 
there were good reasons for leaving. — Calvin. 

Lk. 17:33 — "Whosoever shall lose his life shall 
preserve it." 

See on Mt. 10:39. 



146 PERPLEXING 

Lk. 17:34-36 — "One shall be taken and the 
other left." 

See onMt. 24:40,41. 



Lk. 17:37 — "Wheresoever the body is, thither 
will the eagles be gathered together." 

See on Mt. 24 :28. 

"Where?" Idle curiosity is expressed. The Lord's 
solemn warnings had not stirred the disciples deeply. — 
Maclaren. The question of "where" He declines to an- 
swer. The coming of His kingdom is not to be limited by 
geographical conditions. — Farrar. 



Lk. 18:8 — "When the Son of man cometh, 
shall he find faith on the earth?" 

Rather— "Shall He find this faith on the earth?" Peter 
tells us of scoffers in the last days who shall say, "Where 
is the promise of his coming?" (2 Pet. 3 :3, 4) ; and be- 
fore that day "the love of many shall wax cold" (Mt. 24: 
12; 2 Thess. 2:3). Even the faith of God's elect will, 
in the last days of the age, be sorely tried (Mt. 24:22). 
— Camb. Bible. 



Lk. 18:19 — "Why callest thou me good? None 
is good save one, that is God." 

See on Mt. 19:17. 



Lk. 18:24 — "How hardly shall they that have 
riches enter into the kingdom of God." 

SeeonMt. 19:23. 



Lk. 18:25 — "It is easier for a camel to go 
through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to 
enter into the kingdom of God." 

See on Mt. 19:24. 



PASSAGES 147 

Lk. 19:11 — "They thought that the kingdom of 
God should immediately appear." 

The following parable is spoken to correct several er- 
roneous opinions which the Jews had concerning the king- 
dom of God. 1. That the literal kingdom; was about 
to appear on earth. In contradiction to this idea, the 
long journey and the consequent delay are spoken of. 2. 
That all on earth were about to joyfully submit to His 
kingdom. The parable speaks of bitter enmity on the 
part of some toward the kingdom He was then establish- 
ing. 3. That the subjects of the kingdom would enter 
on a life of inactive enjoyment. In opposition to this, 
long and patient labors are spoken of. — Trench. 



Lk. 19:12-27 — "A certain nobleman went into 
a far country to receive for himself a kingdom 
and to return/' 

The parable teaches that the earthly reign of Christ 
(which the Jews expected rather than a spiritual king- 
dom) was to be preceded by a period when He would sit 
on God's right hand in heaven. That period is this pres- 
ent dispensation. The earthly kingdom was not in con- 
templation at the first coming of Christ. — Mauro. He 
speaks of Himself in the parable as going to a far country 
to receive a spiritual kingdom and to return. In the in- 
terval His servants are to be faithful with the entrusted 
pounds. "Occupy till I come." The ten servants repre- 
sent Christendom in the same way as the ten virgins (Mt. 
25). The one who has hidden the pound in the sweat- 
cloth is called a wicked servant and represents a mere 
professing believer, an unsaved person. The citizens 
mentioned in the parable, who hated the nobleman, are the 
Jews (v. 14). The parable teaches definitely that when 
the Lord returns He will reward His faithful servants for 
their faithfulness. — Gaebelein. 

vv. 21-26. "I feared thee, etc." This man represents 
a professing believer who has not found the offer of salva- 



148 PERPLEXING 

tion to be as attractive as he had expected, — -a legalist, who 
knows nothing of the grace of the Gospel, and is acquaint- 
ed only with its moral requirements. It seems to him that 
the Lord asks a great deal, and gives very little. This 
feeling leads him to do as little as possible. He thinks 
that God ought to be content with abstinence from evil 
doing, and with a mere outward respect to His Gospel. — 
Godet. The Lord's reply is virtually — "If you would not 
do and dare for me in the great adventures of faith, at 
all events, you might have shown fidelity and have pre- 
served me from loss." The punishment for unfaithful- 
ness is the loss of the faculty for service. Furthermore, 
we see continually, one, by the ordinance of God, stepping 
into the place and opportunity which another has neglect- 
ed, despised and misused, and so has lost. — Trench. 

Lk. 19:38 — "Blessed be the King that cometh in 
the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and 
glory in the highest." 

See on Mt. 21 :4, 5. 

"Peace in heaven" — that is — peace reestablished be- 
tween heaven and earth. "Glory in the highest" — fresh 
and more wonderful manifestations than had been given 
before of God's gracious character and of His majesty 
and power. — Brown. 

Lk. 19:40 — "If these should hold their peace, 
the stones would immediately cry out." 

Hitherto the Lord had discouraged all demonstrations 
in His favor; lately He had begun an opposite course. 
On this one occasion He seems to yield His whole soul to 
the wide deep acclaim with a mysterious satisfaction, re- 
garding it as so necessary a part of the regal divinity 
in which, as Savior of the world, He, for the last time 
entered the city, that, if not offered by the vast multitude, 
it would have been wrung out of the stones rather than 
be withheld. — Brown. 



PASSAGES 149 

Lk. 20:17 — "The stone which the builders re- 
jected, the same is become the head of the 
corner." 

See on Mt. 21 :42. 

Lk. 20:18 — "Whosoever shall fall upon that 
stone shall be broken." 

See on Mt. 21 :44. 



Lk. 20:25 — "Render to Caesar the things which 
be Caesar's, and unto God the things which are 
God's." 

See on Mk. 12:17. 

Lk. 20:35 — "They which shall be accounted 
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrec- 
tion from the dead, neither marry, nor are 
given in marriage." 

See on Mt. 22 :30 and Mk. 12 :24. 



Lk. 20:37-38 — "That the dead are raised, 
even Moses shewed at the bush, When he 
calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the 
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is 
not a God of the dead but of the living: for 
all live unto him." 

"Are raised" — the present of eternal certainty. — Camb. 
Bible. "Even Moses" — whom they had just quoted to 
entangle Him. "Not of the dead." To God no human 
being is dead, or ever will be, but all sustain an abiding 
conscious relation to Him. But the "all" here meant 
"those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that 
world" (v. 35). These sustain a gracious covenant re- 
lation to God which cannot be dissolved. In this sense 
our Lord affirms that for Moses to call the Lord the "God" 
of His patriarchal servants, if at that moment they had 
no existence, would be unworthy of Him. He would be 
ashamed to be called their God if they were annihilated. 



150 PERPLEXING 

— J. F. & B. Christ teaches that though to us, death 
seems division, yet to God it is not really so. The spirit 
is not dormant — it lives. The "dead" body, too, is in some 
calculable relation to the departed spirit, and spirit and 
body will come together again. The really "dead" are 
those who are, in life, living separate from their own souls 
— not considering their souls. Eventually both their soul 
and their body will be separate from God. These are 
truly dead. — Vaughan. 

Lk. 20:42-44 — "The Lord said unto my Lord, 
Sit thou on my right hand." 

See on Mt. 22 :42-45. 

Cf . Rev. 22 :16. Christ, as to the flesh, was the off- 
spring of David, and yet the root from which David 
sprang. See Jn. 8 :58 — Son of Abraham, and yet before 
Abraham, also Rom. 1 :3 — born of the race of David ac- 
cording to the flesh. — Chrysostom. 

Lk. 21:20 — "When ye shall see Jerusalem com- 
passed with armies, then know that the deso- 
lation thereof is nigh." 

Vs. 20, 24 are not included in the report of the Olivet 
discourse as given by Matthew and Mark. Two sieges of 
Jerusalem are in view in that discourse. Lk. 21 :20-24 re- 
fers to the siege by Titus in A.D. 70 when the city was taken 
and v. 24 literally fulfilled. But that siege and its horrors 
but adumbrate the final siege at the end of this age, in 
which the "great tribulation" culminates. At that time 
the city will be taken, but delivered by the glorious ap- 
pearing of the Lord (Rev. 19:11-21). The references in 
Mt. 24:15-28; Mk. 13:14-26, are to the final tribulation 
siege. In Lk. 21 the sign is the compassing of Jerusalem 
by armies (v. 20). In Matthew (24:15) and Mark (13: 
14) the sign is the abomination in the holy place (2 Thess. 
2:4).— Scofield. 



PASSAGES 151 

Lk. 21:29-32 — "Behold the fig tree . . . 
This generation shall not pass away till all be 
fulfilled." 

See on Mt. 24 :32-34. 

Lk. 21:33 — "Heaven and earth shall pass 
away." 

See on Mt. 24:35. 

Lk. 22:7 — "the day of unleavened bread." 

See on Mt. 26:17. 

Lk. 22:16-18 — "I will not any more eat there- 
of, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God 
I will not drink of the fruit of the 
vine, until the kingdom of God shall come." 

See on Mt. 26 :29. 

Jesus had in view a new banquet, which will be held 
after the consummation of the age. The holy supper is a 
bond of union between the Jewish passover, which was 
then nearing its end, and the heavenly banquet yet to 
come. — Godet. 

Lk. 22:19— "This is my body." 

See on Mt. 26 :26. 



Lk. 22:20 — "This cup is the new testament 
(covenant) in my blood which is shed for 
you." 

See on Mt. 26:28. 



Lk. 22:29-30 — "I appoint unto you a king- 
dom, as my Father hath appointed unto me 
sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes 
of Israel." 

See on Mt. 19 :28. 



152 PERPLEXING 

"I appoint." Literally "I bequeath" — a word appro- 
priate for one so near death. "That ye may eat" — as they 
are faithful to Him and now sit beside Him at the heaven- 
ly feast. As they share in His humiliation, they are as- 
sured of participation in His exaltation. — Eyton. 

Lk. 22:36 — "But now, he that hath a purse, let 
him take it* and likewise his scrip: and he that 
hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy 
one. 

Christ teaches that there are times when we are to win 
upon the world by an unresisting, uncomplaining submis- 
sion to wrong — so, also, there are times in which we are 
to resist, to strive against it manfully, to arm and nerve 
ourselves for the defense and furtherance of the faith. 
If at times we are to be meek for the truth, at other times 
we are to be valiant for the truth. We must have princi- 
ples instead of rules, and we are obliged to use common 
sense coupled with divine guidance in applying and vary- 
ing our application of them. — Cox. "Now, when I am 
no longer with you, your situation will be quite otherwise 
than before. There now comes for you a time of care for 
yourselves, and of conflict." — Meyer . 

Or — this may be a parable. No saying like this is to be 
found in any of the other Gospels. The garment of 
pride, carelessness, worldliness, besetting sin — sell it, 
fling it away, and take the sword of grace and faith, the 
sword of the Spirt, by which whosoever hath them must be 
more than conqueror. — Vaughan. The disciples put a literal 
meaning on His parable. "Here are two swords." "It 
is enough," said Jesus. What were two swords for 
twelve men and against a hundred weapons? Enough 
only for one who does not mean to fight at all. They 
were not called on to fight literally against flesh and 
blood, but in the bloodless spiritual conflict. — Bruce. Note 
their literal interpretation (v. 38). How different from 
that spiritual enlightenment which they manifested after 
the day of Pentecost. "It is enough" — perhaps the words 



PASSAGES 153 

are slightly ironical. Two swords are enough for all the 
fighting that you will be called upon to engage in. — Van 
Oosterzee. Our Lord's metaphorical method of expression 
was to warn them of days of hatred and opposition in 
which self defense might become a daily necessity, though 
not aggression. They said, "Here are two swords" — it 
was a last instance of the stolid literalism by which they 
had so often vexed our Lord (Mt. 16:6-12), as though He 
could be thinking of two miserable swords — and as though 
two would be of any use against a world in arms. He 
said, "It is enough" — not meaning the swords, but de- 
clining to enter into the matter any further, leaving them 
to meditate on His words. — Farrar. 



Lk. 22:42 — "Father, if thou be willing, remove 
this cup from me." 

See on Mt. 26:39. 



Lk. 22:49-50 — "Shall we smite with the sword? 
and one smote the servant of the high 
priest." 

The warning of v. 36 was evidently in the minds of the 
disciples. They were not sure whether or not He intend- 
ed them to use the swords they carried. By smiting with 
the sword, Peter endangered his own safety, compro- 
mised the cause of the Master by giving occasion for the 
charge of resisting the officers. How readily the Savior 
repaired the damage caused by the mistaken zeal of His 
servants. — Hastings. (See on Mt. 26:62.) 

Lk. 23:31 — "If they do these things in a green 
tree, what shall be done in the dry? 1 ' 

"If these things are done to one who is innocent, what 
shall be done to those who are guilty ?" The idea of dry- 
ness suggests "fit for burning." — Willcock. "Green 
tree" — that which resists fire. "Dry tree" — that which 
attracts flames, being its proper fuel. If such sufferings 



154 PERPLEXING 

alight upon the Innocent One, what must be in store for 
those who are provoking the flames? — Jamieson. 

Lk. 23:33 — "place called Calvary." 

See on Mt. 27 :33. 

Lk. 23:43 — "Today shalt thou be with me in 
paradise." 

The malefactor asked for a future blessing. He re- 
ceived an assurance of immediate felicity. Our Lord did 
not go immediately to heaven when He died. After His 
resurrection He said to Mary, "Touch me not, for I have 
not yet ascended to my Father" (Jn. 20:17). At that 
early stage of His resurrection life He had not presented 
Himself inside the veil. Where had His spirit been dur- 
ing those three days His body lay in Joseph's tomb ? He 
had been in paradise and in the other departments of 
hades (place of departed spirits). See Mt. 12:40; 1 Pet. 
3:19. Hades was in the regions beneath (Mt. 12:40). 
Jesus was there to make a proclamation to the imprisoned 
antediluvian souls, and He liberated those spirits of the 
righteous (1 Pet. 3:18, 19; Heb. 2:14, 15). Our Lord 
did not make an offer of salvation in hades, but an- 
nounced His own finished work in confirmation and vindi- 
cation of Noah's faithful testimony. The descent of 
Christ into hades (sheol, as it is called in the Old Testa- 
ment) wrought a mighty change for the Old Testament 
worthies. We no longer hear of the abode of saved spir- 
its as "down" but as "up" or "away" (Acts 7:55; 2 Cor. 
12:4; 1 Thess. 3:13; Jude 14). The old paradise (sec- 
tion of the spirit world where the spirits of the saved 
awaited) was emptied. "When He ascended up on high," 
He led a band of captives (Eph. 4:8, 9). The spirits of 
the pious received release from hades. So the Apostle 
could speak of the "entire family in heaven and on earth" 
(Eph. 3:15). Until the atoning death was accomplished, 
this new and living way into the heavenly places had not 



PASSAGES 155 

been opened up (Heb. 12:18-24). — Needham. 

Lk. 24:39 — "A spirit hath not flesh and bones 
as ye see me have." 

The evidences of the literal physical resurrection of 
the body of Christ are overwhelming. While He had 
"flesh and bones," apparently He did not have blood. His 
blood He had poured out on the cross of Calvary, and 
now the life of His body was supplied, not by blood, but 
by his indwelling spirit. He gave them further proof 
of the actuality and literality of His resurrection by eat- 
ing before them, and at last they were fully convinced not 
merely that His spirit still lived but that His body had 
been raised and glorified. — Torrey. 



JOHN 

Jn. 1:1 — "In the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God." 

Gr. "Logos" (Word) means a "thought or concept — 
the expression or utterance of that thought." Christ is the 
utterance or expression of the Person and thought of 
Deity (14:9-11; Col. 2:9). In the Being, Person and 
work of Christ, Deity is told out. — Scofield. In Christ, 
the Logos, had been hidden from all eternity all that God 
had to say to man; for the Logos was the living expres- 
sion of the nature, purposes and will of God. Human 
thought had been searching in vain for some means of 
connecting the finite with the Infinite, of making God in- 
telligible to man, and leading man up to God. — Plummer. 

"With God — was God." The verse may be thus para- 
phrased : "The Logos existed from all eternity, distinct 
from the Father, and equal to the Father." — Camb. Bible. 
John's words take us beyond this definite point, into the 



156 PERPLEXING 

immeasurable eternity of the past. Christ, in His in- 
carnation, was not for the first time "called into being (v. 
2). He existed before all worlds (17:5, 24). He was 
eternally existent. — Scott. Christ was not only "along 
with God," but He was God. He is not merely a divine 
Being, but He is, in the absolute sense, Deity. Thus from 
His eternal existence, we ascend first to His distinct per- 
sonality and then to the full truth of His being of the God- 
head. — Liddon. With the Father and the Holy Spirit, 
He is the Creator and Upholder of all existences — "the 
things in the heaven and the things on the earth" (Col. 
1:16). — Horn. Com. 

Jn. 1:4 — "In him was life; and the life was the 
light of men." 

Christ is the organ or medium by which God goes forth 
in creation, providence and redemption. The life of God 
was stored in the human nature of Jesus, when the Word 
became flesh, that it might more readily pass into us. 
True life is always light. When we receive Christ's 
life, we shine. — Meyer. 

Jn. 1:5 — "The light shineth in the darkness and 
the darkness comprehended it not." 

When sin came, night came. The condition of the 
whole world since the fall, has been one of moral, spiritual 
and intellectual darkness. But in the midst of this uni- 
versal darkness, there has ever been a light shining. No 
matter how deep the darkness, He has shone. The light 
shone, but the world did not, would not "lay hold" of it 
(cf. 1 Cor. 2:14; Jn. 3:19, 20). The world would not 
lay hold of the light in His pre-incarnate form, so God 
gives the Word in a form more easily apprehensible. — 
Torrey. 

Jn. 1 :9 — 'That was the true light which lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world." 

Christ was as the sun, the original source of light ; John 



PASSAGES 157 

was as the moon, deriving all its light from the sun. He 
is the light' of all men, the source of all spiritual light to the 
saints, both under the Old and New Testament dispensa- 
tions. He is the voice of God speaking in the conscience 
of men. Truth, righteousness, holiness, proceed from 
Him. There is a sense in which it is true that Christ 
is in every man. — Gloag. Though every man is illumined, 
not every man is the better for it, that depends upon him- 
self. — Plummer. By His creating power, He lightens 
every man with the light of reason. By the publication 
of His Gospel to all nations, He does in effect enlighten 
all men. By the operation of His Spirit and grace, He 
enlightens all those that are enlightened to salvation. 
Whatever light any man has, he is indebted to Christ for 
it, whether it be natural or supernatural. — Henry. 

Jn. 1:13 — "Which were born, not of blood(s), 
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
man, but of God." 

There are three counterfeit ways that "converts" are 
made. Some think they can be born into God's family 
by their natural birth. Some think it is simply a matter 
of the will of the flesh, that is, by self-reformation. Some 
think one may be saved through the will of some other 
person, for instance, by having infants baptized, or in 
some other way imposing one will upon another. But 
God's true children are 1. "not of bloods" — natural 
birth. Spiritual life cannot be transmitted (Ps. 51:5; 
Eph. 2:2, 3). 2. "Nor of the will of the flesh." Man 
has a power of moral choice, but his will is against Christ 
(Jn. 5:40). 3. "Nor of the will of man" — converts 
made under the pressure of another man's will are not 
born of God. — Miller. 

Martyr, Augustine, Irenaeus, Tertullian and others 
take vs. 13, 14 as referring to Christ "who was born not 
of the will of the flesh, etc." — a testimony to His virgin 
birth. The "and" of v. 14 seems to imply that the ref- 



158 PERPLEXING 

erence is to Christ. — B. "Who was born" was the read- 
ing of the verse until the end of the fourth century. If 
it is correct, it is John's testimony to the virgin birth. — 
Rec. of Chris. Work. 

Jn. 1:14 — "And the Word was made flesh and 
dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the Father) 
full of grace and truth." 

Prior to Christ's coming, the Word of God had already 
become human speech and writing. In the main, how- 
ever, men would not listen to it, could not understand 
it, and did not interpret it. God cannot be adequately 
declared in mere utterance and literature. Hence the 
Word became flesh and expressed God in all His human 
experiences, not by teaching a doctrine, but by living a life 
under ordinary conditions of pain, disappointment, temp- 
tation and joy. In the incarnation of Christ, there is de- 
clared the possibility of fellowship between man and God, 
the restoration of sin- forfeited union. — Holden. The 
Divine Word became a man, and dwelt among men, the 
possessor of a dual nature, the Logos or Deity, and the 
flesh, or humanity. He was truly God, perfectly man, 
indivisibly one Person, distinctly two natures. — Davies. 
"Only begotten" — the word means "single of its kind." 
He is so spoken of by John, not because of generation by 
God, but because He is of nature, or essentially, Son of 
God. — Grimm. The crowning proof of the uniqueness 
of Christ is in the marginal reading of Jn. 1 :18 in the 
R. V. — "God only begotten." — Anderson. It marks off 
His unique Sonship from that of "the sons of God" (v. 
12). — Camb. Bible. The teaching that all men are chil- 
dren of God is absolutely foreign to the Bible. We are 
sons of God only in the sense that we have become identi- 
fied with the "only begotten Son" and are "accepted in 
the beloved" Son. — B. 



PASSAGES 159 

Jn. 1:15 — "He that cometh after me is pre- 
ferred before me: for he was before me." 

He who begins His work later than myself is become 
before me in honor, for He was before me — He existed 
before my birth, and even before His own birth, as the 
eternal Son of God. — Dummelow. 



Jn. 1:16 — "Of his fullness have we all received, 
and grace for grace." 

"Grace in place of grace" — new grace; continuous and 
unintermitted. Ever fresh grace according to the need. 
— Com. Bible. 



Jn. 1:17 — "The law was given by Moses but 
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." 

There was no possible receiving of anything but condem- 
nation under the law. This truth which is clearly de- 
clared and fully expounded by Paul (Rom. 3) is here an- 
nounced but not amplified by John. The full, complete 
truth could not come through Moses, for he had not seen 
God. Neither could it come through any other than the 
Word become incarnate, for no one else, any more than 
Moses, had seen God. It is true that Moses had seen a 
manifestation of God, and in that sense it could be said 
that he had seen God. But the Word who became incar- 
nate in Jesus had from all eternity been in closest fellow- 
ship with God. He was "in the bosom of the Father." — 
Torrey. 

Jn. 1:18 — "No man hath seen God at any time; 
the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of 
the Father, he hath declared him." 

God is a spirit — incorporeal, invisible reality. No man 
hath seen God. God has in times past manifested Him- 
self in visible form, but that which was seen in these 
manifestations (Ex. 24:9, 10; Is. 6:1) of God, was not 
God Himself — God in His invisible essence — but a mani- 



160 PERPLEXING 

festation of God. A man may see the reflection of his 
face in a glass. It would be true for the man to say, "I 
saw my face," and also true to say, "I never saw my face." 
No man ever saw God as He is in His invisible essence, 
and so it is perfectly true to say, "No man hath seen God." 
— Torrey. 

"Is in the bosom of the Father" — a remarkable ex- 
pression, u^sed only here, presupposing the Son's conscious 
existence distinct from the Father, and expressing His 
immediate and most endeared access to, and absolute ac- 
quaintance with Him. — J. F. & B. 

"He hath declared him" — revealed Him. Gr. word 
means "to lead the way, make known by expounding." — 
Comp. Bible. 

Jn. 1:21 — "Art thou Elias? And he said, I am 
not. Art thou that prophet? And he an- 
swered, No." 

Cf . Mt. 17 :9-13. We have the Lord's "I say unto you, 
Elias is come already," which must be accepted as final. 
John's statement, even in contradiction of what the Lord 
said, cannot be taken to raise any doubt about the matter. 
The following explanations suggest themselves. It may 
be that John did not know that he was the fulfiller of 
Malachi's prophecy. In all the accounts which John gave 
of himself, he referred to Isaiah's prophecy of "the voice 
crying in the wilderness." He did not connect himself 
with Malachi's prophecy at all ; whereas it was the Lord, 
who, after John's ministry was completed, and John him- 
self was in prison, soon to be beheaded, declared him to be 
the fulfiller of Malachi. At the time the delegation of 
priests and Levites came to John, it was too soon for him 
to know whether the Jews would "receive" his testimony 
or not; hence he could have said at that time that he was 
not the Elijah of Malachi's prophecy. — Mauro. Or — 
John is here speaking literally. If they meant that he 
was Elijah in person, returned to earth again, he says he 



PASSAGES 161 

is not. — Plummer. "That prophet" — referring to Deut. 
18 :18. Cf . Acts 3 :22, 23.— Bullinger. 

Jn. 1:25 — "Why baptizest thou then, if thou 
be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that pro- 
phet?" 

The Pharisees,, versed in the law and tradition, were well 
acquainted with the meaning of the baptismal rite, as ap- 
plied to proselytes. But why did John enforce it in the 
case of all, Jews as well as others, if he were not Messiah, 
or Elias, whom they expected to enact "a great national 
lustration" to inaugurate the Messianic kingdom ? — Godet. 

Jn. 1:29 — "Behold the Lamb of God, which 
taketh away the sin of the world." 

To understand the meaning of this profound phrase we 
must go back to the Old Testament, in which the mind of 
him who first uttered it was steeped. Perhaps the pas- 
sage which was most clearly before him as he spoke, was 
that in the climax of evangelical prophecy (Is. 53) where 
Jesus is described as a lamb led to the slaughter and where 
it is said that "as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so 
He opened not his mouth." Along with this we must 
include a' reference to the Paschal lamb. Few thoughts 
in John's Gospel are more distinct than that of the rela- 
tion of Jesus Christ to the Paschal sacrifice and feast. 
The Passover, which was the most conspicuous symbol 
of the Messianic deliverance was not far off; flocks of 
lambs were passing by to Jerusalem to be offered at the 
coming feast, and the sight may have brought home the 
thought. There is no difficulty in believing that John, 
who had deeply meditated the Messianic prophecies and 
the meaning of the sacrifices, saw, with prophetic in- 
sight, that Christ was to suffer, thus standing for a time 
on a higher level, than any of the disciples. — Nicoll. 



162 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 1:31 — "I knew him not." 

He had not known Him as the coming Messiah. — Tor- 
rey. 

Jn. 1 :36 — "Behold the Lamb of God." 

See on v. 29. 

Jn. 1:51 — "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, 
and the angels of God ascending and descending 
upon the Son of man." 

The last verse of this marvelous chapter will find its 
fulfillment in that day when heaven is opened. Then the 
angels of God will be seen ascending and descending upon 
the Son of man. It will take place when He comes the 
second time. When Israel acknowledges Him as their 
King and as the Son of God. — Anno. Bible. 

Jn. 2:4 — "Woman, what have I to do with thee? 
mine hour is not yet come." 

Lit. "What is there to me and to thee?" or "What is 
common to us in this matter ?" — Wordsworth. The word 
indicates no want of esteem, nor does it even imply re- 
proach. Here our Lord implied that He stood now in a 
different relationship to Mary from the old one (Lk. 2: 
51). He had assumed His Messianic office, and must 
now be thought of, first and foremost, as Lord of Mary. 
She, as all others of humankind, must now honor and 
obey Him. Even Mary will not be permitted to direct 
His activity. The "times and seasons" are for Him to 
determine in accordance with the Father's will. — Scott. 
Christ speaks here, not so much as the Son of Mary, as 
the Son of God, who was about to perform a good work. 
He spoke to His mother thus, not slighting her, but in 
order to show that her maternal authority did not extend 
to matters pertaining to His office. His own authority 
was in this, supreme. God permits no limit to be pre- 
scribed as to what, when and how He should work, for 



PASSAGES 163 

He knows best Himself. — Weigel. "The hour for me to 
act is not yet come." — Weymouth. 

Jn. 2:6 — "waterpots . . . after the man- 
ner of the purifying of the Jews." 

Waterpots, proportioned to the number of guests. — 
Comp. Bible. "Purifying" — the ceremonial injunctions 
as to which were' strictly attended to by pious Israelites. 
(Mk. 7:3, 4; Mt. 15:2; Lk. 11:38).— Horn. Com. 

Jn. 2:17 — "The zeal of thine house hath eaten 
me up." 

Our Lord's presence was august, His soul being aflame 
with the passion of zeal for His Father's honor. The 
consciences of those who offended were smitten by the 
contrast between that holy zeal and their own eagerness 
to barter. — Meyer. 

Jn. 2:19, 21 — "Destroy this temple . . . 
the temple of his body." 

Our Lord's reference to His body as the true temple 
of God is very impressive. The apostle adverts to it in 
1 Cor. 6:19. The reference to the destruction of His 
body by the act of the Jewish leaders, and to His resurrec- 
tion, proves that from the very first He had His sacrifice 
before His eyes. In the next chapter this becomes the 
more apparent. — Meyer. 

Jn. 3:3 — "Except a man be born again he can- 
not see the kingdom of God." 

"Again"— lit. "from above."— R. V. The necessity of 
a new or heavenly and spiritual birth grows out of the 
incapacity of the natural man to enter into God's king- 
dom (v. 5, 6; Ps. 51:5; Jer. 17:9; Mk. 7:21-23; 1 Cor. 
2:14; Rom. 8:7, 8; Eph. 2:3). The new birth is a cre- 
ative act of the Holy Spirit (v. 5 ; 2 Cor. 5 :17; Eph. 2 :10; 
4 :24) . The condition is faith in Christ crucified. (3 :14, 15 ; 



164 PERPLEXING 

1:12, 13; Gal. 3:24). Through the new birth the be- 
liever becomes a partaker of the divine nature and of the 
life of Christ Himself (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:10; 4:24; Col. 
1:27; 1 Pet. 1:23, 25; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Jn. 5 :10-12).— Sco- 
field. 



Jn. 3:5 — "Except a man be born of water and 
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
of God." 

The instrument through which the new birth is effected 
is the Word of God (1 Pet. 1:23; Jas. 1:18; Jn. 15:3). 
The Author of the new birth is the Holy Spirit (v. 5; 
Tit. 3:5). Many therefore think that the "water" of 
v. 5 is "the Word," the instrument by which men are born 
again. They urge in favor of this interpretation that 
water is a symbol of the Word (Eph. 5 :26; Jn. 15 :3 ; Ps. 
119:9). Those who object to this interpretation ask if 
Jesus meant "the Word" why did He not say so without 
using a figure, just as He says "the Spirit." To this it 
may be replied that the words "the Spirit" are themselves 
a figure and the passage literally translated would be "of 
water and wind." As the "wind" by universal consent 
refers to the one factor in regeneration, "the Spirit," so 
"the water" manifestly refers to the other element in re- 
generation, "the Word." Others urge that in both "water 
and wind" we have the symbol of the Spirit's work 
(water, His cleansing work and wind, His quickening 
work) and they refer to a somewhat analogous case, 
where it is said that Jesus will baptize with "holy wind 
and fire" (Mt. 3:11 literally rendered). It matters little 
which interpretation we accept, for if the Word as the 
instrument of regeneration is not mentioned here, it cer- 
tainly is elsewhere. — Torrey. 

Another view — What then is this water ? Let us read 
with care the rest of this Gospel. Who and what was 
this Living Water of which if a man drink,, he shall never 
thirst but "it shall be in him a well of water springing up 






PASSAGES 165 

into everlasting life"? (4:14). Who and what was the 
Living Water Christ promised "to him that believeth in 
me"? (7:37-39). "This spake He of the Holy Ghost." 
Then we are born of the Spirit only ; and Jesus, to show 
the importance of this truth, spake first in a figure and 
secondly in plain language. — Neve. 

Not baptism — Some take it that water immersion is here 
intended as essential to salvation. If this is correct, 
would it not seem singular that except in this one place 
the doctrine is nowhere else taught in Scripture? If Jesus 
had baptism in view it is strange that He never afterward 
preached about it, and that He Himself baptized not (4 : 
2) — without which it is impossible for any human being 
to enter into the kingdom of God. Surely He would have 
set the example of administering a rite that is of such 
requisite indispensability. He certainly plainly teaches 
salvation without baptism. The office of baptism is to 
make thereby a formal confession of belief, to give an 
official certification that faith is possessed and has been 
exercised. — Bates. 

Jn. 3:13 — "No man hath ascended up to 
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, 
even the Son of man which is in heaven." 

"No one has gone up but He that came down, even He 
who is at once both up and down." This was intended 
to startle and constrain His auditor to realize that there 
were mysterious elements in His Person. The sense 
manifestly is this : The perfect knowledge of God is not 
obtained by any man's going up from earth to heaven to 
receive it — no man hath so ascended — but He whose 
proper habitation, in His essential and eternal nature, is 
heaven, hath, by taking human flesh, descended as "the 
Son of man" to disclose the Father, whom He knows by 
immediate gaze alike in the flesh as before He assumed 
it, being essentially and unchangeably "in the bosom of the 
Father" (1 :18).— Jamieson. 



166 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 3:14 — "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up." 

When Moses, at God's command (Num. 21 :8, 9), lifted 
up the serpent of brass in the wilderness, God's promise 
was, "Every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it 
shall live." The bitten Israelites were not told to look 
upon the wounds made by the fiery serpents, nor to look 
upon Moses, the representative of the law, nor to reason 
about the connection between looking and living, but to 
look upon the uplifted serpent, made in the likeness of that 
which had inflicted the deadly stroke, even as God, send- 
ing His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for 
sin, condemned sin in the flesh. If they looked, they showed 
that they believed God's Word and trusted God's promises. 
— Brookes. 

Jn. 3:16 — "should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life." 

"Perish"— cf. 2 Thess. 1 :9— "destruction." Neither 
word means cessation of being or annihilation. "Ap- 
pollumi" means "rendered unfit for intended use" (Mt. 
9:17; Mk. 2:22; Mt. 10:6; 12:14; 18:11; Lk. 15). The 
sheep and the son did not perish in the sense of annihila- 
tion. Destruction is not annihilation. See Rev. 19 :19, 
20, where the beast is cast alive into the lake of fire. Rev. 
20:10, one thousand years later, speaks of him as still 
there. Note also the use of words "forever and for- 
ever" — words that are used of the existence of God Him- 
self (Heb. 1 :8; Gal. 1 :5 ; Rev. 4:9, 10; 10:6).— Haldeman. 

Jn. 3:29 — "He that hath the bride is the bride- 
groom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which 
standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly be- 
cause of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy 
therefore is fulfilled." 

John would say, "There is no occasion for sur- 
prise. I told you I was not the Christ, but simply sent 



PASSAGES ; 167 

before Him. Of course men are leaving me and going 
to Him. I am glad it is so. He is the Bridegroom, not 
I. I am only the friend of the Bridegroom. My whole 
business is to prepare the way for the union of the Bride- 
groom with the bride (His true people). I would not be 
so false as to win the affection of the bride for myself, 
even if I could. (Many a modern preacher would get 
the affection of the church centered upon himself rather 
than upon Jesus). Having brought the Bridegroom and 
His bride together, my whole business is to stand and 
hear Him. This is my great joy, to hear His voice." — 
Torrey. 

Jn. 3:33 — "He that hath received his testimony 
hath set to his seal that God is true." 

"His" is emphatic, balancing "God." He that received 
Christ's witness, set his seal that God is true. To believe 
the Messiah is to believe God, for He is God's interpreter 
(1:18). The metaphor is from sealing a document to 
express one's trust in it and adherence to it. — Plummer. 

Jn. 3:34 — "God giveth not the Spirit by meas- 
ure unto him." 

The prophets were as messengers that brought letters 
from heaven, but Christ came under the character of an 
ambassador and treats with us as such. He spoke as no 
other prophet did, for God giveth not the Spirit to Him 
by measure. None can speak the words of God without 
the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:10, 11). Old Testament 
prophets had the Spirit and in different degrees (2 Kgs. 
2:9, 10) but whereas God gave them the Spirit by 
measure (1 Cor. 12:4), He gave Him to Christ without 
measure — all fulness dwelt in Him. — Henry. 

Jn. 4:2 — "Jesus baptized not, but his disciples." 

Cf . 3 26. This word is intended to indicate a partial 
correction of the report recorded in v. 1. (The Phari- 



168 PERPLEXING 

sees had heard.) Why did not Jesus Himself baptize? 
Just because He was the Lord and as such reserved to 
Himself the baptism of the Spirit. By leaving the bap- 
tism of water to the apostles, He rendered this rite in- 
dependent of His personal presence, and so provided for 
the maintenance of it in His church after His departure. 
— Godet. 



Jn. 4:22 — "Ye worship ye know not what: we 
know what we worship, for salvation is of the 
Jews." 

They rejected the continuous revelation God gave of 
Himself in the prophetic Word and the history of His 
people. It was only a partial idea of God as revealed 
which they had, and therefore their worship was necessari- 
ly imperfect. But to the Jews, the progress of revelation 
tended to the recognition of God as the Father, the great 
truth finally established and made luminous by the in- 
carnation. — Scott. "Salvation is of the Jews" — alluding 
to the promises to Abraham (Gen. 12) and to David (2 
Sam. 7:11-13, 16; Ps. 89:3, 4; 132:11) and to the historic 
fact that the Gospel was to be preached to all nations, "be- 
ginning at Jerusalem" (Lk. 24:47). — Dummelow. 

Jn. 4:23 — "True worshippers shall worship the 
Father in Spirit and in truth." 

From the connection, it is evident that the words "in 
spirit and in truth" do not mean, as is often thought, 
earnestly, from the heart, in sincerity. There were among 
them godly men who called upon God with their whole 
heart — and yet not "in spirit and in truth," in the full 
meaning of the words. Jesus says, "The hour is coming 
and now is" ; it is only in and through Him that the wor- 
ship of God will be "in spirit and truth." As God is Spirit, 
not bound by space or time, so His worship would hence- 
forth, no longer be confined by place or form, but spiritual 
as God Himself is spiritual. This worship in the Spirit 



PASSAGES 169 

must come from God Himself. God is Spirit. He alone 
has Spirit to give. It was for this He sent His son to fit 
us for such spiritual worship, by giving us the Holy Spirit. 
The worship of the Father is only possible to those to 
whom the Spirit of the Son has been given. The worship 
"in spirit" is only possible to those to whom the Son has 
revealed the Father and who have received the Spirit of 
sonship. "And in truth." Grace and truth came by 
Jesus Christ. Jesus says, "I am the truth." Jesus is full 
of grace and truth ; the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth ; 
through Him the grace that is in Jesus is ours indeed 
and in truth, a positive communication out of the Divine 
life. Pentecost was needed to reveal the full meaning of 
all this. — Murray. 

Jn. 4:24 — "God is a Spirit." 

This implies that He is a Personal Being, that He is 
self-conscious, possessed of intelligence and will, but al- 
though Personal, His personality transcends our concep- 
tion. So far as regards the immediate application of 
the definition by our Lord at this time it suffices to note 
its primary meaning that God has not a body, and conse- 
quently is subject to none of the limitations and condi- 
tions to which the possession of a body subjects human 
persons. He needs no local dwelling place, no temple, 
no material offerings. In local worship there was an ad- 
vantage while the world was young and men could best 
be taught by symbols. But God no longer seeks to be 
worshipped by outward forms or elaborate ritual but in 
the Spirit and in the truth. — Dods. 

Jn. 4:35-37 — "Say not ye, There are yet four 
months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I 
say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the 
fields; for they are white already to harvest 
Other men labored and ye entered in- 
to their labors." 

Our Lord had found one who believed Him and valued 



170 PERPLEXING 

His message, and this brought fresh life to His frame. 
The disciples go on eating, and are too busy with their 
meal to lift their eyes ; but as they eat they talk over the 
prospects of the harvest in the rich fields through which 
they had just walked. Meanwhile our Lord sees the men 
of Sychar coming out of the town in obedience to the 
woman's request, and calls His disciples' attention to a 
harvest more worthy than the one they were discussing. 
"Were you not saying that we must wait four months till 
harvest comes and cheapens the bread for which you have 
paid so dear in Sychar ? But lift up your eyes and mark 
the eager crowd of Samaritans and say if you may not 
expect to reap much this very day. Are not the fields 
white already to harvest ? Here in Samaria, which you 
only wished quickly to pass through, where you were look- 
ing for no additions to the kingdom, and where you might 
suppose sowing and long waiting were needed, you see 
the ripening grain. Others have labored, the Baptist, 
this woman, and I, and ye have entered into their labors." 
— Expos. Bible. 

Jn. 4:48 — "Jesus said unto him, Except ye see 
signs and wonders, ye will not believe." 

These words did not express reluctance on the part of 
Jesus to heal the nobleman's son. Possibly they were in- 
tended in the first instance to rebuke the desire of the 
father that Jesus should go with Him to Capernaum and 
pronounce over the boy words of healing. He thought 
Christ's presence was necessary. He had not attained to 
the faith of the centurion who believed that an expression 
of will was enough. Jesus therefore demands a stronger 
faith. The words were especially a warning that His 
physical gifts were not the greatest He had to bestow, 
and that a faith which required to be buttressed by the 
sight of miracles was not the best kind of faith. Our 
Lord was always in danger of being looked upon as a 
miracle man, who could dispense cures merely as a phy- 
sician could, within his own limits, order certain treat- 



PASSAGES 171 

ment. He was in danger of being considered a dispenser 
of blessings to persons who had no faith in Him as Savior. 
It is therefore with the accent of one who submits to the 
inevitable that He says, "Except ye see signs and wonders, 
ye will in no wise believe." — Dods. 

Jn. 5:17 — "My Father worketh hitherto, and I 
work/' 

"My Father is working even until now ; I am working 
also." From the creation up to this moment God has 
been ceaselessly working for man's salvation. From such 
activity there is no rest, no Sabbath, and to cease to do 
good is not to keep the Sabbath but to sin. — Camb. Bible. 

Jn. 5:19 — "The Son can do nothing of himself, 
but what he seeth the Father do: for what things 
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son 
likewise." 

This is not a confession of want of power, but a denial 
that any of His work is done by Him alone to the exclu- 
sion of the Father. Inasmuch as He is one with the 
Father in essence, it is not possible that His work, author- 
ity or power should be separate from that of the Father. 
He is Creator of all things, and, like the Father, He up- 
holdeth "all things by the word of His power." Christ 
claims equality with the Father in eternity, wisdom, power 
and work. — Davies. "Can do nothing of Himself." It 
is impossible for Him to act with individual self-assertion, 
independent of God. Their working and will are one. — 
Plummer. 



Jn. 5:22 — "The Father judgeth no man but 
hath committed all judgment unto the Son." 

Christ has not only a legislative and judicial power but 
an executive power too. He will execute judgment upon 
all, the same with His taking vengeance (2 Thess. 1 :8) . 
The ruin of impenitent sinners comes from the hand of 



172 PERPLEXING 

Christ. He that executes judgment upon them is the 
same that would have wrought salvation for them, which 
makes the sentence unexceptionable, and there is no relief 
against the sentence of the Redeemer. This authority is 
delegated and derived; He acts as the Father's Vice- 
gerent. — Henry 

Jn. 5:23 — "All men should honor the Son 
even as they honor the Father. He that hon- 
oreth not the Son honoreth not the Father 
which hath sent him." 

The text demands that Christ receive the same honor 
with the Father. The honor which we give to the Father 
consists in adoration, praise, unreserved confidence, hum- 
ble submission, and, in a word, the dedication of soul and 
body to His service. We are therefore to adore the Son, 
and to make Him the object of our trust and hope, to re- 
sign ourselves to His disposal and to yield implicit obedi- 
ence to His commands. — Dick. There is no escape from 
the plain meaning of these words. Inasmuch as all men 
are required to honor the Son as they honor the Father, 
and as they who do not honor the Son as they do the 
Father are regarded as not properly honoring the Father, 
it follows that equal honor is due the Son with the Father. 
— Da vies. 



Jn. 5:25 — "The hour is coming and now is, 
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son 
of God; and they that hear shall live." 

"Hour cometh" — in its fullness at Pentecost. "And 
now is" — in its beginnings. "The dead" — spiritually 
dead, as is clear from v. 28. Here He rises from the 
calmer phrase, "hearing His word," (v. 24), to the grander 
expression, "hearing the voice of the Son of God," to 
signify that as it finds men in a dead condition, so it car- 
ries with it a resurrection power. — J. F. & B. 



PASSAGES 173 

Jn. 5:26 — "So hath he given to the Son to have 
life in himself." 

Christ has life in Himself, and He has it "as the Father 
has it," that is, perfectly and infinitely, which sufficiently 
demonstrates that He is of the same essence or He could 
not have this communion of properties with the Father. 
The life is indeed said to be "given" but this communica- 
tion from the Father makes no difference in the argument. 
Whether the "life" means the same original and independ- 
ent life, which at once entitles the Deity to the appella- 
tions, "the living God" and "the Father of spirits," or the 
bestowing of eternal life upon all believers, it amounts to 
the same thing. The life which is thus bestowed upon be- 
lievers, the continuance and perfect blessedness of ex- 
istence, is from Christ as its fountain, and He has it as 
the Father Himself has it. By the appointment of the 
Father, He is made the source of eternal life to believers 
as having that life in Himself to bestow and to supply for- 
ever. — Watson. 

Jn. 5:29 — "resurrection of life . . . res- 
urrection of damnation." 

The theory of a general judgment of saints and sinners 
at the end of time, although widely spread and commonly 
believed, has no foundation in the Scriptures. Unbe- 
lievers will be judged at the resurrection of damnation 
(condemnation). The Judge (Acts 17:31), the throne 
(Rev. 20:11), the destiny (Rev. 20:14, 15). To the re- 
jector of Christ the future is black with the clouds of this 
coming judgment of condemnation. For the believer 
judgment for sin is past (5:24). It fell upon his spot- 
less Surety when He stood in his place bearing his sins 
(Gal. 2:20). But the believer has been entrusted with 
his Master's goods (Mt. 25:14) and left on earth as His 
steward to use them for Him (1 Pet. 4:10). He has 
been called to a life of service and warfare in the King- 
dom and House of his absent Lord (Mk. 13:34; 2 Tim. 



174 PERPLEXING 

2 :3, 4) and the reward and recompense of that service 
is not for the present made known. It will be, in the 
future, at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5 :10) at the 
"resurrection of life." There the servants of the Lord 
will be gathered to receive their Master's verdict on their 
service and warfare here. The time — after the Lord 
comes in the air for His people (1 Thess. 4:16) and be- 
fore He returns with them to the earth (Col. 3:4; Rev. 
19:11-14). "The resurrection of the just" is mentioned 
as the time of "recompense" (Lk. 14:14). 

Jn. 5:30 — "I can of mine own self do nothing; 
as I hear I judge." 

It is because He is the Son that He cannot act inde- 
pendently : it is impossible for Him to will to do anything 
but what the Father wills. His judgment is the declara- 
tion of that which the Father communicates to Him, and 
this is the strongest possible guarantee of its justice. — 
Camb. Bible. 

Jn. 5:31 — "If I bear witness of myself, my 
witness is not true." 

Our Lord, defending His claims before Jews who 
denied those claims, accepts the Biblical rule of evidence 
which required "two witnesses" (Jn. 8:17; Num. 35:30; 
Deut. 17:6). A paraphrase of v. 31 would be, "If I bear 
witness of myself, ye will say, my witness is not true." — 
Scofield. 



Jn. 5:34 — "I receive not testimony from man, 
but these things I say that ye might be saved." 

"I depend not on human testimony, but I refer to John 
merely to aid your salvation." — Jamieson. 



PASSAGES 175 

Jn. 5:39 — "Search the Scriptures; for in them 
ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they 
which testify of me." 

Better, "Ye search the Scriptures" — a reference to 
their habit of doing so. We find this order of thought. 
God has in the Old Testament witnessed of Me, but ye, 
with unreceptive hearts, have never heard His voice (v. 
37). Ye have not His Word dwelling in you or it would 
have witnessed of Me (v. 38). Instead of receiving the 
Scriptures as a living power within you, ye search and 
explain the letter of them from without (v. 39) . You think 
they contain eternal life and hence your reverence for 
them. They are really witnesses of Me, and yet you, 
seeking in them eternal life, are not willing to come to 
Me that ye may have this life. — Watkins. 

Jn. 5:41 — "I receive not honor from men." 

He contrasts His own purpose with theirs, which was to 
obtain human applause. — Brown. 

Jn. 5:43 — "If another shall come in his own 
name, him ye will receive." 

There were many who did so, and who, by flattering 
national vanity and catering to the Jewish carnal expecta- 
tion of a temporal kingdom, led many after them. Many 
false Christs have been enumerated. The teacher who 
can utilize to the widest extent the fashionable worldli- 
ness and can mingle the pungent human condiment with 
the princely food of the king's banqueting house, is he 
who at the present hour meets with the loudest response 
and the readiest reception. — Reynolds. The passage will 
have its culminating fulfillment in the reception of the 
antichrist (2 Thess. 2:3, 4, 9-11).— B. 



176 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 6:27 — "Labour not for the meat which per- 
isheth, but for that meat which endureth unto 
everlasting life which the Son of man shall give 
unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed." 

"Man shall not live by bread alone." This is a subject 
frequently and urgently referred to by our Lord (Mt. 6: 
25-34) . The spirit and tendency which He seeks to com- 
bat is that practical materialism which springs up especial- 
ly where men are congregated in masses and the struggle 
for existence is more keenly felt. What is material can 
satisfy only for the time. God alone, spiritual things 
alone, can fill up the needs of our higher nature. Do not 
apply all your energies to obtaining merely the food that 
perishes. The spiritual life must come first, and for the 
true and heavenly food men must labor — not as though 
they could gain it by their own exertions : for Christ 
GIVES it. But they must strive after it, seek for it 
earnestly, and doing so, it will be given, and with it every 
other gift. Christ has been sent to bring men the bread 
of life, and the proof of His authority, the seal of it, is 
evident in His mighty works. — Bengel. 

Jn. 6:29 — "This is the work of God, that ye 
believe on him whom he hath sent." 

The Jews on this occasion missed the central idea in 
the words which Jesus had spoken to them. The old legal 
concept — "Do this and live" — was evidently in their minds. 
They did not understand the words — "Work for the meat 
that endureth . . . which the Son of man shall 
GIVE" (v. 27). Had they duly weighed His words, their 
question would have been, "How can we obtain from Thee 
this food that endureth?" There is a foundation work 
which must precede and underlie all other works in the 
service of God. Faith is the spring of all true Christian 
activity. Without a living faith in Christ's redeeming 
work, and the assured hope and peace that faith brings, 
all work would be but vanity. Believing leads to our 
acting on our belief and seeking in all our work to serve 
after the example of Jesus. — Arndt. 



PASSAGES 177 

k — * 

Jn. 6:37 — "All that the Father giveth me shall 
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will 
in no wise cast out." 

Believers are given by the Father to the Son, and the 
word "shall" expresses the glorious certainty of it, the 
Father being pledged to see to it that the gift be no empty 
mockery. "Him that cometh." This is the human side 
as the former is the Divine. True, the "coming" ones of 
the second clause are the "given" ones of the first. Though 
He speaks of it as a sublime certainity which men's re- 
fusals cannot frustrate, He speaks of that certainty as 
taking effect only by men's voluntary advances to Him 
and acceptance of Him — "whosoever will" — thus throw- 
ing the door wide open. — Wilkinson. 

Jn. 6:44 — "No man can come to me except the 
Father which hath sent me, draw him." 

The word "draw" does not necessarily imply force, 
still less, irresistible force, but merely attraction of some 
kind, some inducement to come. Cf. "With lovingkind- 
ness have I drawn thee" (Jer. 31:3). — Plummer. We 
will never be brought to Christ but under divine conduct; 
except God by His grace enlighten our minds, inform our 
judgments and teach us by His Spirit that we may learn 
the truth as it is in Jesus. — Henry. 

Jn. 6:51 — "The bread that I will give is my flesh 
which I will give for the life of the world." 

What are the great truths which meet us in these words ? 
Are they not those of the incarnation of the Son, and His 
atoning work as the foundation of redemption for man? 
Christ Himself showed that His words were not to be 
interpreted in a gross material sense, when He said to 
these disciples who erroneously understood them in this 
sense and were offended, "The words that I speak unto 
you, they are spirit and they are life" (v. 63). "Believe 
and thou hast eaten" (Augustine) sums up the central 
thought of the passage. — Westcott. 



178 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 6:53 — "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of 
man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in 
you." 

Eating and drinking of Christ implies a close personal 
union of ourselves with Him and participation in His life 
and death. We are to become partakers of the Divine 
nature through Christ in the whole of our being. The 
terms, "eating" and "drinking," which describe the ac- 
ceptance of Him, are not mere metaphors. They de- 
scribe a real assimilation, and they mean that believers 
really participate in the life of the incarnate Son ; for the 
same Spirit through whom He became incarnate, moves 
in the life of believers, transforming them more and more 
into His image. — Reynolds. We would not say that Jesus 
in this discourse alludes to the Lord's Supper, but that the 
Lord's Supper and this discourse refer to one and the 
same divine fact, expressed here by a metaphor and there 
by an emblem. From this point of view, the delicate ques- 
tion why Jesus here made use of the word "flesh" and 
in the institution of the Lord's Supper of the word "body," 
is easily solved. When He instituted the emblem, He took 
bread and brake it. Now it is His BODY as an ORGAN- 
ISM broken, which corresponds to this broken bread. In 
the address at Capernaum, where only NOURISHMENT 
was in question, it was agreeable to the analysis of the 
multiplication of the loaves that Jesus should rather pre- 
sent His body as SUBSTANCE than as an organism. — 
Godet. 

Jn. 6:62 — "What and if ye shall see the Son of 
man ascend up where he was before?" 

If (as in v. 61), therefore ye should behold the Son 
of man ascending up where He was before, will ye be 
offended then? — Comp. Bible. 

Jn. 6:63 — "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the 
flesh profiteth nothing." 

It is the Spirit that maketh alive, or giveth life. The 



PASSAGES 179 

flesh here, means the flesh without the Spirit, that which 
can only be appropriated physically, like the manna. — 
Camb. Bitie. 

Jn. 6:70 — "Have not I chosen you twelve and 
one of you is a devil?" 71 — "This spake he of 
Judas Iscariot." 

Because Judas was an apostle there is no warrant to 
conclude that he was saved in the New Testament sense. 
The word "apostle" means a messenger or one sent. 
This service we have abundant reason to believe Judas 
fulfilled. It is also said that Judas was a "disciple" which 
means that he was a learner. But this does not relate 
him to the body of Christians. Judas was wholly false. 
The Lord knew it but suffered his presence that Scripture 
might be fulfilled.— Chafer. Judas was chosen for a 
special service, but it is expressly said that he was not 
chosen to eternal life (13:18). 

Jn. 7:6 — "My time is not yet come; but your 
time is alway ready." 

The reason for His revelation as Messiah was not yet 
come. That time would come when in the depths of His 
humiliation He would reveal His glory (12:12-16, 23, 
33; 19:14-19). As His course was already determined, 
He waited for that appointed time. There was, however, 
no such set time for His brethren. They were then in 
harmony with the world and at any time could show them- 
selves in the world without drawing down on themselves 
its wrath and resentment. They who are friends of the 
world are never out of season. — Wordsworth. 

Jn. 7:38 — "He that believeth on me, as the 
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow 
rivers of living water." 

A simple emblem intended to recall one of the great 
theocratic favors, the springing of water from the rock in 



180 PERPLEXING 

the wilderness. He had in chap. 2 represented Himself 
as the true Temple ; in chap. 3 as the true Brazen Serpent ; 
in chap. 6 as the Bread of heaven ; in chap. 7 He is the true 
Rock; in chap. 8 He will be the true Life-giving Cloud 
and so on till chap. 19 when He will at length realize the 
type of the Paschal lamb. — Godet. The man who has 
gone to Christ, the spiritual Rock, the springing Fountain 
of Life, receives into himself an inward life by the com- 
munication of Christ's divine Spirit, so that he has "in his 
innermost being" a fountain springing up into life ever- 
lasting. Where this divine life has through faith been 
implanted within, it will come out. This is Christ's way 
of communicating the blessing of eternal life to the world 
— by the medium of those who have already received it. 
— Maclaren. 



Jn. 8:15 — "Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no 
man." 

They judged superficially and from the point of view 
of essentially materialistic minds. Had they been more 
spiritually minded, the truth as to Christ's nature must have 
been apprehended by them. — Scott. "I judge no man" — 
I come now as Savior, not as Judge. — Cyril. Though I 
form and utter my judgment of you, I am not here to 
carry this into execution. That is reserved to a future 
day, yet the judgment I now pronounce and the witness 
I now bear is not mine only, as ye suppose, but His also 
that sent me. — Jamieson. 

Jn. 8:35 — "The servant abideth not in the house 
forever; but the Son abideth ever." 

A slave could not be adopted as a son unless he were 
made free (Heb. 3:6). There may be a spirit of servi- 
tude in the house of the Father (the church) even (Lk. 
15:29) as there was in the case of those Jews. What 
such need is to have the Spirit of the Son in their hearts 
(Gal. 4:6) ; then they too will cry "Abba Father." Here 
is our hope, that we may cease to be slaves and be freed 



PASSAGES 181 

by Him who is free (v. 36) and gave not silver and gold, 
but His own blood for us. — Augustine. 

Jn. 8:44 — "Ye are of your father the devil." 

This is one of the most decisive testimonies to the out- 
ward personality of the devil. It is impossible to suppose 
a metaphorical form of speech in so solemn an assertion 
as this. — Alford. The devil is the spiritual parent of the 
fallen, unregenerate human family, communicating to his 
offspring his own evil passions and universal obliquity, 
and stimulating these into actual exercise. — J. F. & B. 

Jn. 8:51 — "If a man keep my saying he shall 
never see death." 

The death of a Christian seems outwardly often very 
much like the death of the godless, but in reality, there is 
a difference as great as that betwixt heaven and earth, for 
the Christian's body sleeps in death while his spirit enters 
immediately into life; but the ungodly goes forth from 
life and knows death (separation from God) eternally. 
— Sel. 

Jn. 8:56 — "Your father Abraham rejoiced to 
see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." 

Amid scenes of prevailing and apparently growing idol- 
atry, Abraham, piercing through the cloud and gloom 
of his surroundings with the enlightened spiritual vision 
strengthened by faith, saw, over the nations, arise the light 
of an eternal Sun. As Jesus said, "Abraham rejoiced to 
foresee nry day." — Arndt. 

Jn. 8:58 — "Before Abraham was, I am." 

"Ere Abraham was born, I am." — Cranmer. "I am" 
— denotes absolute existence, and in this passage clearly 
involves the pre-existence and Deity of Christ, as the Jews 
see. — Plummer. In the words "I am," there seems to be 



182 PERPLEXING 

a direct reference to such passages as Ex. 3 :14; Is. 43 :10; 
48 :12.— Horn. Com. 

Jn. 9:5 — "As long as I am in the world I am 
the light of the world." 

Not as if He would cease after that to be so ; but that 
He must make full proof of His fidelity while His earthly 
career lasted by displaying His glory. As before the 
raising of Lazarus ( 1 1 :25 ) He announces Himself as the 
Resurrection and the Life, so now He sets Himself forth 
as the source of the spiritual light, of which the natural, 
now about to be conferred, is only a derivation and sym- 
bol.— Alford. 



Jn. 9:39 — "For judgment I am come into the 
world . . . that they which see might he 
made blind." 

Those who refuse to let God open their eyes will ju- 
dicially be made incapable of apprehending and receiving 
the truth to which they have wilfully shut their eyes. — 
Brown. (See on Mt. 13:13-15). 

Jn. 9:41 — "If ye were blind ye should have 
no sin: but now, ye say, We see; therefore your 
sin remaineth." 

"If you were seeking light to discern my claims, and 
were unable for the time to understand (but not wilfully 
blind), you would not be guilty of shutting out the light. 
But you claim to have all the light there is, while at the 
same time rejecting Me. Therefore your self-sufficiency 
and wilful unbelief seals up your guilt." — B. 

Jn. 10:2 — "He that entereth in by the door is 
the shepherd of the sheep." 

Christ is the only Door to the sheep and for the sheep 
(v. 7). The saved must enter through Christ. The 
minister who labors over the flock of Christ's sheep must 



PASSAGES 183 

get his commission from Christ. Some false shepherds 
take advantage of religion to get power over men. A 
true minister doesn't need to climb in, but will come in 
through Christ, the front Door. — Echoes. 

Jn. 10:3 — 'To him the porter openeth." 

"Doorkeeper." This may signify the Holy Spirit work- 
ing through His appointed ministers in each case (open- 
ing the way for them). For how does the Spirit work in 
the church and among men, if not by the use of means and 
instruments? (1 Cor. 12:1-11). — Westcott. The keeper 
of the door is the Holy Spirit, working through all the 
means and instruments of grace. It is He who guides 
believers into all truth, opens the hearts, etc. (Acts 16:14). 
— Kogel. 



Jn. 10:8 — "All that ever came before me are 
thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear 
them." 

"All who ever came instead of or in place of me are 
thieves and robbers." Christ distinctly claims to be the only 
true Way to the fold. He does not refer to Old Testa- 
ment prophets and teachers for they "testified of Him." 
But false teachers did not, like the law and prophecy, 
point to Him; they sought to construct a door of theo- 
cratic temporal granduer, and scorned the lowly entrance 
of the incarnate Christ, "despised and rejected of men." 
— Lange. 

Jn. 10:9 — "Shall go in and out and find 
pasture." 

I N for salvation — O U T for service. — Inglis. By 
means of the door, Christ, they shall pursue their duties. 
— Horn. Com. 



184 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 10:16 — "Other sheep I have which are not 
of this fold: them also must I bring, and they 
shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold 
and one shepherd/' 

Is He not looking forward to the consummation spoken 
of by St. Paul? (Rom. 11:25, 26). Jews and Gentiles 
in Him are to be one (Eph. 2:11-17; Col. 3:11). There 
may be many folds. Different nations, ages, times, and 
seasons may cause variation in these, but there is but one 
flock under the watchful guardianship of one Shepherd 
in this dispensation. — Reynolds. One flock does not mean 
one rigid form or church system, but all, of whatever 
name who hold to "the one Lord, one faith, one baptism" 
(Eph. 4:5).— Scott. 

Jn. 10:30 — "I and my Father are one." 

Our Lord is declaring that none shall pluck His true 
disciples out of His hand. He fortifies His declaration 
by setting forth the Father's omnipotence (v. 29) and by 
the declaration that He and the Father are One. This 
declaration is void of all force or meaning unless it asserts 
a oneness of nature with the Father. To assert that He 
was in harmony with the counsels and designs of the 
Father, that in these matters He was one with the Father, 
would prove nothing concerning His ability to save His 
followers; but if He and the Father are one in essence, 
then He can certainly save His followers ; for the infinite 
knowledge and power of supreme Deity are His. — Davies. 

Jn. 10:34-36 — "Is it not written in your law, 
I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods 
unto whom the word of God came 
say ye of him whom the Father hath set 
apart . . . Thou blasphemest; because I 
said, I am the Son of God?" 

"In the law by which you consider yourselves bound — 
those are called 'gods' to whom the Word of God came 
(Ps. 82:6). And if tyrannical judges etc, were called 



PASSAGES 185 

gods, how much more may the eternal Son whom the 
Father hath sanctified, assume the title, Son of God?" 
The word which gives the name of gods to the lowest 
judges and prophets in Israel, in the well-understood sense 
of their being bearers and executors of individual utter- 
ances of God, whether judicial or prophetic — this, as a 
word of Scripture, they were constrained to hold invio- 
lable, while in His case, who is essentially God's conse- 
crated One, God's Messenger, the Mediator of His per- 
fected revelation, to whom the Father has Himself given 
consecration and office in its most essential form — in His 
case they will count it as blasphemy that He calls Himself 
the Son of God. — Lange. "If it called them gods." The 
"them" is unexplained, but a Jewish audience would at 
once know who were meant (delegates and representatives 
of God under the theocracy). How incredible that any 
but a Jew should think of such an argument, or put it 
in this brief way. These last eight verses alone are suf- 
ficient to discredit the theory that this Gospel is the work 
of a Greek gnostic in the second century. — Plummer. 

Jn. 11:6 — "When he heard therefore that he 
was sick, he abode two days still in the same 
place where he was." 

He did not hasten away to the sick friend. Shall I 
put it like this: the awakening bulbs were not yet ready 
for the brighter light — just a little more shade. We are 
impatient to get healthy ; the Lord desires that we become 
holy. Our trouble is continued that we may put on spirit- 
ual strength. — Jowett. Jesus' delays in answering prayer 
are not necessarily denials. He may delay because He 
loves us, and always for His own glory. Let us not com- 
plain because we cannot understand His dealings but 
trust in Him, knowing we shall see the glory of God 
(v. 40).— Sum. Bible. 



186 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 11:9-10 — "Are there not twelve hours in 
the day? If any man walk in the day he stumb- 
leth not . but if . . in t h e 

night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in 
him." 

Jesus had left Jerusalem because the time of His de- 
parture had not come ; and also that a further opportunity 
for repentance might be given to His enemies. Now the 
time is at hand and there is no reason for His drawing 
back. — Scott. "Twelve hours" — the reference is to the 
Jewish day, the hours of light from sunrise to sunset. 
Those who walk in the full light of day are to be fear- 
less and confident. Only those who walk in the murk of 
sin need fear. Those who walk under the light of duty 
cannot fail. — Ker. 



Jn. 11:11 — "I go that I may awake him out of 
sleep." 

Sleep as an image of death is common from the dawn 
of literature, but the Gospel has raised the expression 
from a figure to a fact (Mt. 27:52; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 
1 Cor. 11:30; 15:6, 18; 1 Thess. 4:13; 2 Pet. 3:4). 
The thoroughly Christian term "cemetery" (sleeping 
place) in the sense of a place of repose, comes from the 
same Greek root. — Camb. Bible. Sleep as applied to the 
death of the Christian, has to do with the body, not the 
spirit and soul. The body sleeps until resurrection, the 
spirit is in conscious bliss in heaven. — B. Those who 
hold the doctrine of "soul sleeping" assert that the body 
and soul are identical. Man, however, is a trinity, (1 
Thess. 5:23). Because man is spirit he is capable of 
God-consciousness (Ps. 13:2; 42:5, 6, 11); and because 
he is a body, he has, through his senses, world-conscious- 
ness. The body is not the soul, and the soul departs 
from the body at death (Gen. 35:18; 1 Kgs. 17:21, 22; 
Lk. 16:19-31; Lk. 23:42). "Fear not them which are 
able to kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." — 
Rowland. 



PASSAGES 187 

Jn. 11:16 — "Let us go that we may die with 
him." 

Perhaps he perceives how this journey to Judea will 
end as respects His Master and not only sees in it peril 
to themselves, as they all did, but feels as if he could 
not and cared not to survive his Master's sacrifice to the 
fury of His enemies. It was that kind of affection which 
cannot contemplate, or has no heart for life without its 
object. — Jamieson. 

Jn. 11:26 — "Whosoever liveth and believeth in 
me shall never die." 

Christ is the resurrection of those who die in Him 
and the life of those who live in Him. — Bengel. Death to 
the believer, is no more death but life. In the midst 
of death we are in life. — Luther. The believer's death 
shall be swallowed up in life, and his life shall never sink 
into death. The temporary separation of soul and body 
is regarded as not even interrupting, much less impairing, 
the new and everlasting life imparted by Jesus. — J. F. & 
B. 



Jn. 11:49-50 — "It is expedient for us, that one 
man should die for the people, and that the 
whole nation perish not." 

His counsel was one of expediency, pure and simple. 
Justice, righteousness, truth were nothing to him. If this 
Jesus continued to work and gain adherents, then farewell 
to their authority over the people ! farewell also, perhaps, 
to the limited power they still possessed under Rome. 
This man stands in our way — remove Him. He seems 
to endanger our authority ; let Him die and we shall stand 
secure. — Thomson. 

Jn. 11:51 — "This spake he not of himself; but 
being high priest that year, he prophesied that 
Jesus should die for that nation." 

God made use of his office. The high priest, who year 



188 PERPLEXING 

by year entered into the holiest of all (Heb. 9:7), is here 
led unwittingly to prophesy concerning the one offering 
which was to be made, not only for the Jewish nation, but 
for all who were scattered abroad. By divine guidance, 
the evil counsel resulted in the true good of the spiritual 
Israel, in a wider blessing than any mere restitution of 
the Jewish nation in the state in which it then was, would 
have been. — Scott. 



Jn. 12:13, 15 — "cried, Hosanna; Blessed is the 
King of Israel that cometh in the name of the 
Lord." 

See on Mt. 21 :4, 5, 9. 

Jn. 12:24 — "Except a corn of wheat fall into 
the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it 
die, it bringeth forth much fruit." 

It was as if He said, Do not fancy that I have nothing to 
do but to accept the sceptre which these men offer, to seat 
Myself on the world's throne. The world's throne is the 
cross. These men will not know My power until I die. 
The manifestation of divine presence in My life has been 
distinct enough to win them to enquiry; they will be for- 
ever won to Me by the divine presence revealed in My 
death. Like the corn of wheat, I must die if I would be 
abundantly fruitful. It is through death My whole liv- 
ing power can be disengaged and can accomplish all possi- 
bilities. — Exp. Bible. 

Jn. 12:31 — "Now is the judgment of this 
world: now shall the prince of this world be 
cast out." 

It seemed as if in the cross the prince of this world, 
the devil, had triumphed and cast Jesus out, but really the 
crucifixion of Jesus was the defeat of the devil and his 
casting out. — Torrey. With prophetic certainty, Christ 
speaks of the victory as already won. Sentence was pass- 
ed on the world for refusing to believe — the cross is the 



PASSAGES 189 

condemnation of all who reject it. — Plummer. 

Jn. 12:40 — "He hath blinded their eyes and 
hardened their heart: that they should not see 
with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, 
and be converted, and I should heal them." 

SeeonMt. 13:13-15. 

The blindness and callousness of the Jews in rejecting 
Jesus was the inevitable issue of a long process of hard- 
ening. This hardening and blinding process was the in- 
evitable, natural result of their past conduct. But what 
nature does, God does, and therefore the Evangelist says, 
"He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts." 
Their susceptibility to religious and moral impressions 
had become callous and hardened and impervious. — Dods. 
This expresses a positive divine act by which those who 
wilfully close their eyes and harden their hearts against 
the truth, are judicially shut up in their unbelief and im- 
penitence. — Olshausen. 



Jn. 12:45 — "He that seeth me seeth him that 
sent me." 

Jesus and the Father are one, so the one who really 
believes on Jesus believes on the Father who sent Him, 
and he that sees Jesus sees the Father who sent Him. — 
Torrey. (See on 10:30 and 14:9). 



Jn. 12:47 — "If any man hear my words and 
believe not, I judge him not: (or I came not to 
judge the world but to save the world." 

See 3:17; 8:15, 16. Those who reject Christ shall be 
self-condemned. The opportunity and means were given 
them, but they would not (Lk. 10:16; 19:44; Mt. 23:37). 
—Scott. 



190 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 13:8 — "If I wash thee not, thou hast no 
part with me." 

Notice He didn't say "no part IN me." "With me"— 
implies "fellowship." — Garry. The Lord had shown that 
His action had a spiritual meaning (v. 7). "If thou art 
not cleansed spiritually, etc., thou hast no fellowship with 
Me." There is also the further lesson of absolute sur- 
render to Christ in whatsoever He may ask of us, whether 
or not we understand the meaning, without which we 
lose our fellowship with Him. — B. 

Jn. 13:10 — "Jesus saith unto him, He that is 
washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is 
clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all 
(of you)." 

The underlying imagery is of an oriental returning from 
the public baths to his house. His feet could contract de- 
filement and require cleansing, but not his body. So the 
believer is cleansed as before the law from all sin "once 
for all" (Heb. 10:1-12), but needs ever to bring his daily 
sins in confession that he may abide in unbroken fellow- 
ship with the Father and with the Son (1 Jn. 1:1-10). 
The blood of Christ answers forever to all the law could 
say as to the believer's guilt, but he needs constant cleans- 
ing from the defilement of sin. See Eph. 5 :25-27 ; 1 Jn. 
5 :6.— Scofield Bible. 

Jn. 13:14-15 — "If I then, your Lord and Master, 
have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash 
one another's feet: for I have given you an ex- 
ample that ye should do as I have done to you." 

Some take this passage literally as establishing a church 
ordinance like baptism and the Lord's supper. There 
is no evidence however, that it was given as a church 
ordinance, and evidently it was not so considered by any 
body of believers until the fourth century. Feet washing 
was a common custom in Palestine where only sandals 
were worn on the feet and where roads were very dusty 



PASSAGES 191 

(1 Tim. 5:10). We should not disdain to do what the 
Son of God was willing to do, and He washed the feet 
even of Judas. — Sel. Our Lord did not mean to insti- 
tute a perpetual sacrament of this kind. There is no in- 
dication in the New Testament nor in any primitive docu- 
ments that such a sacrament was either established by 
the apostles or practiced by the primitive church. Our 
Lord here performed the humblest of menial service as 
a lesson, that they, renouncing strife for superiority, 
should condescend to the lowest offices for each other's 
good. In every act of humble love toward a fellow be- 
ing we perform the reality of which this feet-washing 
is a symbol, and we really obey the command to wash one 
another's feet. — Whedon. 



Jn. 13:26 — "He it is to whom I shall give a 
sop, when 1 have dipped it/' 

"Sop" — a morsel. It was a mark of honor for the host 
to give a portion to one of the guests. — Comp. Bible. 
When He had dipped it in the sauce or gravy. — Henry. 

Jn. 13:32 — 'if God be glorified in him, God shall 
also glorify him in himself and shall straight- 
way glorify him." 

"And God will be exalted through Him; and God will 
exalt Him to Himself, and He will exalt Him immediate- 
ly." — Fenton. These words are omitted in some of the 
best manuscripts. — Camb. Bible. 

Jn. 14:7, 9 — "If ye had known me ye should 
have known my Father also: and from hence- 
forth ye know him and have seen him 
He that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father." 

"In knowing Me and seeing Me, you have known God 
and seen God." If Jesus is not Deity He had no right 
to say that. God perfectly and fully revealed Himself in 
Jesus; in Jesus dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead in 



192 f PERPLEXING 

a bodily form (Col. 2:9). To know Jesus is to know 
God. We can learn something of God by the study of 
nature and by the study of man, but we can learn all there 
is to be known about God by the study of Jesus. If we 
know Jesus we know the Father also. — Torrey. 

Jn. 14:12 — "He that believeth on me, the 
works that I do shall he do also; and greater 
works than these shall he do: because I go un- 
to my Father." 

At the founding of the Christian faith the ambassadors 
for Christ needed to be unmistakably authenticated. It 
must be clearly evident that they came with the authority 
of the King of kings. Hence they did the same works as 
Christ did; they healed the sick, raised the dead, etc., in 
His name. Without doubt, these words of power in 
Christ's name drew the attention of those who saw them 
wrought, to the Gospel, and were a testimony that the 
apostles were armed with divine authority. But was it 
possible that they should do greater works than the Mas- 
ter? Christ's sphere on earth, so far as His miracles 
went, was limited. He was sent "to the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel," whereas the disciples, after being en- 
lightened and strengthened by the Spirit at Pentecost, had 
no limit set to their working. Indeed, the continued his- 
tory of the Acts of these apostles and other ministers 
and teachers of the church shows how grandly this prom- 
ise was fulfilled. Multitudes through their instrumental- 
ity became "new creatures." — Scott. 

Jn. 14:30 — "The prince of this world cometh 
and hath nothing in me/' 

Better, "The ruler of this world (Satan) is coming." 
The powers of darkness are at work in Judas and his em- 
ployers. There is nothing in Jesus over which Satan has 
control. "Let no one think My yielding to his attack im- 
plies that he has power over Me." The yielding is volun- 
tary in love and obedience to the Father. This declara- 



PASSAGES 193 

tion, "in Me he hath nothing," could only be true if Jesus 
were sinless. — Plummer. 



Jn. 15:2 — "Every branch in me that beareth not 
fruit he taketh away, and every branch that 
beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring 
forth more fruit." 

Both the persons described in this text were "in Christ" 
— in Christ in different senses it is plain, because the first 
persons were not so in Christ as to bring forth fruit. 
Consequently, as fruit is that by which we are to judge a 
man, they were not in Christ effectually, graciously, in- 
fluentially or so as to receive the fruit-creating sap. If 
they had brought forth fruit, their f ruitfulness would have 
been a sign that they were in Christ savingly. Who will 
venture to say that a man who yields no fruit of right- 
eousness can be really a Christian? — Spurgeon. Others 
believe the fruitless branch represents true believers who 
are not fully yielded and that their "taking away" is the 
result of chastening as in 1 Cor. 11:30. Many in the 
Corinthian church had been cut off in death on account of 
unf ruitfulness resulting from unconfessed sin. They are 
taken away as branches (v. 6), though not lost. — Taylor. 
This view might be acceptable if "fire" in v. 6 may be ex- 
plained to be the trying "fire" of 1 Cor. 3:15. — B. Still 
others insist that the unfruitful branches are the people of 
Israel who indeed are described in Rom. 11 as natural 
branches cut off from the good olive tree. — Pettingill. 

"Purgeth it"— "cleanseth" ( R. V.) or still better, 
"pruneth." The reference is to the discipline of sorrow, 
disappointment, temptation and trial by which the saints 
are perfected, or to the cutting off of the superfluities, am- 
bitions, luxuries and worldly pleasures and lusts which 
hinder the Christian life (Gal. 5:24; 6:14; Jas. 1:21).— 
Dummelow. 



194 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 15:6 — "If a man abide not in me he is 
cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and 
men gather them, and cast them into the fire, 
and they are burned." 

The general teaching is that if we do not abide in Him 
we are abandoned by Him, that is, we lose all power for 
service, and prayer, and inner joy. Some say the thought 
of "cast forth as a branch" is that of "cutting back," a 
picture of the vine-dresser putting upon the scrap heap 
that which bears no fruit and so manifests the fact that 
it is not in a position of drawing from the vine the life- 
giving sap necessary to fruitfulness. It may be taken 
as a picture of any apostate, whose doom is worse be- 
cause of the light against which he has sinned. It may 
be applied to any unfruitful true believer in the sense 
of 1 Cor. 3:15. — B. There may be men and women who 
were baptized in the name of Christ, have seemed genuine 
members of the church, have been under the preaching of 
His Word, influenced by His Spirit and have even proph- 
esied in His name, and yet something or other has inter- 
posed to prevent a vital union and they are severed from 
the vine. Those who will live from themselves, not from 
the eternal truth and love of Christ, shall be cast forth 
and regarded as amongst the withered things whose end 
is to be burned. — Lange. Angels are mentioned in Mt. 
13:41, 42 as gathering the useless branches (persons 
who are not in Christ) and casting them into the fire of 
punishment in gehenna. — Dummelow. 

These words have often been taken to teach that a be- 
liever's salvation and safety depends upon his fruit-bear- 
ing and his faithfulness. If these words taught that a 
true branch in the vine, one who is really in Christ, may 
be cut off and cast away to perish forever, they would 
contradict His previous teachings. The branch in the 
vine which beareth not fruit is not a true believer at all 
but one who by profession claims to be a branch in the 
vine. Note in verse 6 the change from "ye" to "a man." 
If our Lord had said "If ye abide not in me, ye shall be 



PASSAGES 195 

cast forth etc.," it would mean a true believer, but the 
change makes it clear that no true disciple is meant. — 
Gaebelein. The words seems to apply especially to apos- 
tates like Judas Iscariot. There must be about a man 
some appearance of professed faith in Christ before he can 
come to the state described here. Doubtless there are 
those who seem to depart from grace, and to go back from 
union with Christ, but we need not doubt in such cases 
that the union was not true but fictitious. After all, the 
final miserable ruin and punishment of false professors, 
is the great lesson which the verse teaches. — Ryle. 

Jn. 16:8-11 — "When he the Holy Spirit is 
come, he will reprove the world of sin and of 
righteousness and of judgment: of sin because 
they believe not on me: of righteousness be- 
cause I go to my Father and ye see me no more; 
of judgment because the prince of this world is 
judged." 

The first work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world 
in respect of sin, to show the world its error about sin; 
to show the world that the great decisive, damning sin is 
not to believe on Jesus, the Son of God (Jn. 3:18, 19). 
He also shows the world its error about righteousness. 
He says to the world by the resurrection and ascension 
of Jesus that Jesus is the only "Righteous One," and the 
only acceptable righteousness possible to us is "in Him" 
(Phil. 3:9). There are two things that a man needs to 
see in order to be saved — first, himself, that he is 
a sinner; second, Jesus, His righteousness and the 
righteousness of God provided for us in Him (Rom. 
10:1-4). It is the Holy Spirit's work to show both of 
these to men. He also shows the world its error about 
judgment; that there is to be a judgment inasmuch as 
the devil, the prince of the world, is judged already. When 
the Spirit of God comes to a man, all his difficulties about 
the stern things that are said in the Bible about the eternal 
consequences of sin, present no difficulties. 



196 PERPLEXING 

"The prince of this world is judged." He was judged 
in the Cross of Christ, and though the consequences of 
that judgment are not yet made manifest, and will not be 
until the time described in Rev. 20:1-10, his judgment is 
already secured by the death of Christ on the cross (Heb. 
2:14). — Torrey. See 12:31. The death of Christ ju- 
dicially overthrew him and he was therefore expelled from 
his usurped dominion over all men (1 Jn. 3 :8; Col. 2 :15). 
—J. F. & B. 

Jn. 16:23 — "In that day ye shall ask me 
nothing." 

"That day" — not the forty days of His bodily presence 
between the Resurrection and the Ascension, but the many 
days of His spiritual presence from Pentecost onwards 
(14:20). "Ye shall ask me nothing." It may mean 
either, "ask no question" or "make no petition." The 
former is probably meant. When they are illuminated 
by the Spirit, there will be no room for such questions 
as, "What is this little while?" "How can we know the 
way ?" "Whither goest thou ?" "How is it that thou wilt 
manifest thyself unto us ?" His going to the Father will 
gain for them divine knowledge, as well as a perfect re- 
sponse to prayer. — Plummer. Such enquiries will be un- 
necessary by reason of the fulness of the Spirit's teach- 
ing (14:26; 16:13; 1 Jn. 2:27).— Jamieson. 

Jn. 16:24 — "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in 

my name." 

Prayer in the name of Christ presupposes His glorifi- 
cation. — Olshausen. 

Jn. 16:26 — "Ye shall ask in my name. I say 
not that ... I will pray the Father for 
you." 

Christ does pray the Father for His people, but not 
for the purpose of inclining an unwilling ear. — Brown. 



PASSAGES 197 

After Pentecost you will have direct access to the Father 
in My name (on the grounds of His acceptability with the 
Father). No longer will it be needful for you, as it is 
at present, first to come to Me and to ask Me to bring 
your need before the Father. This text does not deny 
Christ's heavenly intercession (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 
1 Jn. 2:1), but only such a view of it as would make it a 
barrier between the Father and the prayers of His chil- 
dren.— Dummelow. Direct access to God, under the old 
covenant, was impossible. Petitions to God were con- 
nected with the offering of the required sacrifices. Now 
Christ is about to fulfill all the sacrifices and His people, 
coming to God, as identified with Him, have direct access. 
— B. So long as through the power of the Advocate they 
have direct communion with the Father, there is no need 
to speak of Christ's intercession. But this communion 
may be interrupted bv sin, and then Christ becomes their 
Advocate (1 Jn. 2:1)'.— Camb. Bible. 

Jn. 17:9 — "I pray not for the world but for 
them which thou hast given me." 

His intercessory prayer for His own indeed includes 
the world, for they were sanctified to be sent forth in 
His power on their saving work. There is therefore no 
limitation of His redeeming love. — Horn. Com. Like the 
High Priest, He carries only the names of His people 
upon His shoulders and upon His heart. He prays now 
for His Church, His Body, for every member. When the 
Church is complete and the Body is united to Himself in 
glory, He will pray for the world. "Ask of me," the 
Father has told Him, "and I will give thee the nations 
for thine inheritance" (Ps. 2:6). When He asks this, 
He will receive the kingdoms of this world. What com- 
fort it should be to all His people, to know He appears in 
heaven for us individually. — Anno. Bible. 



198 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 17:12 — "None of them is lost but the son 
of perdition." 

Jesus Christ will certainly keep all that were truly His, 
so that none of them shall be eternally and finally lost. 
They may think themselves lost and may be in imminent 
peril, but it is the Father's will that He should lose none, 
and none He will lose (6:39). But a brand is put upon 
Judas, as not being one of those whom He had under- 
taken to keep. "None of them is lost, but the son of 
perdition is lost." He was "among" those given to Christ 
but "not one of them" (1 Jn. 2:19). Jesus says he 
would "go to his own place." He was a son of the de- 
stroyer. Antichrist is called "son of perdition" because 
he is a man of sin (2 Thess. 2:3). It is an awful con- 
sideration that one of the apostles proved a son of perdi- 
tion. No man's name in the church, or external perform- 
ances, will secure him from ruin if his heart is not right 
with God. — Henry. 

Jn. 17:19 — "For their sakes I sanctify myself, 
that they also might be sanctified through the 
truth." 

On behalf of them I dedicate or consecrate Myself. 
This shows the meaning of "sanctify;" not making holy 
as to moral character, but "setting apart for God." The 
Lord was the anti-type of all the offerings which were 
holy unto Jehovah. — Comp. Bible. Christ does for Him- 
self that which He prays the Father to do for His dis- 
ciples. In. 10 :36 He speaks of Himself as consecrated by 
the Father; set apart for a sacred purpose. But only 
thus far is the consecration of Christ and of His disciples 
the same. In them it also implied redemption and cleans- 
ing from sin, and in this sense the word is frequently 
connected with "purify" (2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 5:26; 2 Tim. 
2:21; Heb. 9:13).— Camb. Bible. 



PASSAGES 199 

Jn. 17:22 — "The glory which thou gavest me I 
have given them: that they may be one even as 
we are one." 

The last clause shows the meaning of the first. It is 
not the future glory of the heavenly state, but the secret 
of that present unity just before spoken of, the glory- 
therefore of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, the glory of 
an accepted state, of a holy character, of every grace 
(2 Cor. 3:18). — Jamieson. 

Jn. 17:23 — "that they may be made perfect in 



Lit. "perfected into one" — completed and made one. — 
Plummer. Let it be noticed that the unity of believers 
is regarded as resulting from the inclusion of them all in 
the ineffable union of the Father and the Son ("one in 
us"). Their unity is no mere matter of formal external 
organization, nor unanimity of creed, but is a vital unity 
of life. The result of such a manifestation in the world 
of a multitude of men, in all of whom one life evidently 
moves, fusing their individualities while retaining their 
personalities, will be the world's conviction of the divine 
mission of Jesus. It is the perfect unity of the Spirit that 
Christ's prayer desires. — Maclaren. 

Jn. 18:11 — "Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up 
thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my 
Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" 

See on Mt. 26 :52. 



Jn. 18:14 — "Caiaphas was he which gave coun- 
sel to the Jews that it was expedient that one 
man should die for the people." 

See on Jn. 11:49, 50. 



200 PERPLEXING 

Jn. 18:33-37 — "Art thou King of the Jews? 
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of 
this world . . . now is my kingdom not 
from hence. Pilate said unto him, Art thou a 
King then? Jesus answered, Thou say est that 
I am a King. To this end was I born and for 
this cause came I into the world, that I should 
hear witness unto the truth/' 

Pilate asked, "Art thou King of the Jews?" His an- 
swer was equivalent to saying "Yes." He was and is the 
King of Israel who will yet sit upon the Davidic throne. 
But He was not claiming the throne at that time. Nor 
was He then offering earthly dominion to Israel if they 
would receive Him. Christ then declared to Pilate the 
character of the kingdom which He had then come to set 
up on earth. "Now (at this present time) is my kingdom 
not from hence." Here is a clear statement to the effect 
that the kingdom which He came to introduce was a 
heavenly and spiritual kingdom. Had it been the time 
for His earthly rule, then would His servants not permit 
Him to be a victim of the Jews. It is a strictly non- 
militant kingdom, to such an extent that there could be 
no righting, even to prevent the delivering of the King 
Himself to His earthly enemies. But Pilate continues, 
"Art thou a King then?" Jesus answered that He was, 
but "to this end was I born, and for this cause came I 
into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." 
Christ is indeed "a King" and to that end He became a 
man. But His first advent was not the time for His earth- 
ly rule ; for He came then, not to receive a kingdom but to 
deliver the message of God, to bear final and complete 
witness to the truth of God. — Mauro. 



Jn. 19:17 — "the place of a skull, which is 
called . . . Golgotha." 

See on Mt. 27 :33. 



PASSAGES 201 

Jn. 19:30 — "He said, It is finished." 

At least seven things were finished (completed) : 1. 
His agony and shame (Heb. 12:2). 2. His revelation 
of God's will (Jn. 4:34). 3. His demonstration of 
God's love (Jn. 5:36). 4. His redeeming work (2 Cor. 
5:21). 5. A shelter from the storm of divine wrath 
against sin (Gal. 2:16; Col. 2:13, 14). 6. Satan's con- 
demnation (Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:15). 7. His prophetic 
program (1 Pet. 1:11-13; Lk. 24:25, 26).— B. 

Jn. 19:31 — "The Jews because it was the prep- 
aration, that the bodies should not remain upon 
the cross on the sabbath day (for that sabbath 
was an high day), besought Pilate that their 
legs might be broken and that they might be ta- 
ken away." 

For bodies to remain would be against the Mosaic law 
(Deut. 21 :22, 23). "That sabbath was a high day"— the 
first day of unleavened bread, the most solemn season of 
the ecclesiastical year. Hence their peculiar jealousy lest 
the law should be infringed. The legs were broken with 
clubs to hasten death.— J. F. & B. 

Jn. 19:34 — "Forthwith came there out blood 
and water." 

The reason of this we are not told. In fact, the writer 
could not have known the reason. There was no scientist 
on earth at the time who had sufficient knowledge of physi- 
ology to have told the reason. It was only centuries after- 
ward that the reason was discovered. Dr. Simpson of 
Edinburgh University, the discoverer of chloroform, 
wrote during his lifetime an able brochure in which he 
showed on scientific grounds that Jesus died from what 
is called "extravasation of the blood." When one dies in 
this way the arms are thrown out, there is an exertion 
(a loud cry), the blood escapes from the pericardium and 
prevents the heart from beating. Then the blood stands 
for a short time. It separates into serum (the water) 



202 PERPLEXING 

and clot (red corpuscles). When the soldiers pierced the 
pericardium the blood and water flowed out. Though 
John did not know the explanation, he observed the fact 
and recorded it and left it for time and scientific dis- 
covery to demonstrate the historical accuracy of what he 
told. — Torrey. 

Jn. 20:17 — "Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; 
for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go 
to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend 
unto my Father, and your Father; and to my 
God and your God." 

Jesus speaks to Mary as the High Priest fulfilling the 
day of atonement (Lev. 16). Having accomplished the 
sacrifice, He was on His way to present the sacred blood in 
heaven. — Scofield. If He had not yet ascended, where 
had His spirit been during the interval of three days in 
which H£s body lay in the tomb ? Lk. 23 :43 says He 
was going to paradise, which, prior to the ascension, was 
spoken of as below. — B. (See on Lk. 23:43). 

Jn. 20:22 — "He breathed on them and said un- 
to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." 

An earnest and firstfruits of the more copious Pente* 
costal effusion. — Jamieson. The natural meaning of these 
words is, "Receive an effusion of the Spirit." What 
Jesus gives them is not a simple promise, but neither is 
it the fulness of the Spirit ; it is an earnest. Raised Him- 
self to a degree of higher life, He hastes to make them 
sharers in it as far as that is possible. This communica- 
tion is to the resurrection what Pentecost will be to the 
ascension. As by Pentecost He will initiate them into 
His ascension, so by breathing on them now, He associates 
them with His life as the Risen One. — Godet. 

Jn. 20:23 — "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are 
remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye 
retain, they are retained." 

See on Mt. 16:19. 



PASSAGES 203 

Note that this gift is connected with that of receiving 
the Holy Ghost (v. 22). — B. The words closely con- 
sidered amount to this : that with the gift and real partici- 
pation of the Holy Spirit comes the conviction, and there- 
fore the knowledge of sin, of righteousness and judgment, 
and this knowledge becomes more perfect the more men 
are filled with the Holy Ghost. They who are pre-emi- 
nently filled with His presence are pre-eminently gifted 
with the discernment of sin and repentance in others, 
and hence by the Lord's appointment authorized to pro- 
nounce pardon of sin and the contrary. The apostles had 
this in an especial manner, and by the full indwelling 
of the Spirit were enabled to discern the hearts of men 
and give sentence on that discernment (Acts 5:1-11; 8:21; 
13:9). This gift belongs to the church in all ages and 
especially to those called to ministry in churches of Christ ; 
not by successive delegation from the apostles — of which 
fiction there is no trace in the New Testament — but by 
their mission from Christ, the Bestower of the Spirit for 
their office. In proportion as any disciple shall have been 
filled with the Holy Spirit of wisdom, is this inner dis- 
cernment of his sin. — Alford. 

Jn. 21:15-17 — "Lovest thou me more than 
these? . . . lovest thou me? 
lovest thou me?" 

The first question that our Lord puts to Peter brings 
up his former self-confident boasting and his sad fall. 
"Lovest thou me more than these?" (See Mt. 26:33,35). 
He had fancied that his love overtopped that of all the 
rest. Jesus asks him if he still thinks that he loves "more 
than these." With all the memory of his fall before him, 
Peter did not hesitate to reaffirm his love, but in doing it, 
he does not use as strong a word for "love" as Jesus 
did in asking the question. It is difficult to translate the 
difference between the two words used, but as near as 
we can come to it, Jesus asked, "Lovest thou me?" and 



2Q4 PERPLEXING 

Peter replied, "Thou knowest that I have a tender affec- 
tion for Thee." Jesus accepted Peter's profession and on 
this basis commissioned him, "Feed my lambs" (the young 
of the flock) . Jesus then asks the same question a second 
time, leaving out the "more than these," and gets the 
same reply. Now He gives another commission, lit., 
"Shepherd my sheep" (not the same Greek word for 
"feed" as in v. 15) . It meant more than to feed and tend. 
Now Jesus asks the question a third time. This time in 
asking the question, He alters the word for "love" and 
uses the same word Peter had used both times — the 
weaker and more tender word. The thrice asked ques- 
tion is such a manifest reference to the threefold denial 
of Peter, that he is grieved at the suggestion of a doubt 
and bursts out with all his soul — "Lord, thou knowest that 
I love Thee." Jesus is satisfied and says, "Feed my 
sheep" (older ones of the flock). — Torrey. 



Jn. 21:18 — "When thou wast young, thou 
girdedst thyself and walkedst whither thou 
wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt 
stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird 
thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." 

The Lord read Peter's life in the unseen future. He 
knew how he would be true to Him to the death. The 
love in Peter's heart would lead him to the cross. — Hardy. 
The martyrdom of Peter at Rome, probably A. D. 64, is 
attested by Clement of Rome. It took place apparently 
in the time of Nero. Tertullian asserts that he was cruci- 
fied, and Origen says he was fixed on a cross with his 
head downward. — Smith. 



Jn. 21:21-23 — "Peter seeing him (John) saith to 
Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus 
saith ... If I will that he tarry till I 
come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me." 

The question Peter asked was prompted probably by a 
desire to know whether his fellow-disciple who had not 



PASSAGES 205' 

forsaken or denied his Lord, was to have the same bitter 
experience at the end of life, or whether a milder lot 
would be his. There was also a culpable spirit of curiosi- 
ty, a breaking through for the moment of the old forward 
spirit so often manifested. The Lord conveys to him a 
certain degree of reproof as if He had said, "Would it 
not be well for you to attend to what I have said — con- 
tent to aid your brethren in the work, and not occupy your 
mind with speculating on their future ?" The incident 
may teach us that there is a species of curiosity that can- 
not be praised, which may lead to ideas that may result in 
laxity in the Christian life. — Hardy. 

The form of our Lord's words (v. 21) brings out very 
distinctly the fact that His coming again is not at the 
death of the individual believer, for He draws the clearest 
kind of distinction between "tarrying", which in this case 
means remain alive, and His own coming. The death of 
the believer is one event. The coming of the Lord is 
an entirely different event. Many of the brethren con- 
strued our Lord's words concerning John as meaning that 
John would not die at all but continue to live until the 
Lord's return. But this construction was unwarranted by 
the words. Jesus only said that the matter remained with 
Him, that all depended upon His sovereign will, and that 
if it should happen to be His will that John should remain 
alive until the second coming, it was no concern of Peter's. 
— Torrey. 



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